


Everybody's Watching Me

by ParzivalHallows



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne does not deal well, But just a little, Court of Owls, Dick is a Talon, Dick is a little bit crazy, Jason enjoys cursing, League of Shadows/Assassins, M/M, Memory Loss, Not Really Character Death, Psychological Torture, Torture, Violence, kidnapping of child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-03-22 01:52:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3710428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParzivalHallows/pseuds/ParzivalHallows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was wrong. So wrong. Dick snapped his head back up to look at Jason, who took an automatic stumble back. This was Dick. But it wasn’t. Dick’s eyes were filled with a lust – a lust for the blood he’d just spilled everywhere. </p><p>What had they done to him? </p><p>“Jason Todd…” </p><p>Jason didn’t like the way Dick was looking at him, nor the way he took a few steps forward, his eyes narrowed. “The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Obey the Court

It took a great amount of will and pressure not to flinch as he heard the screaming start. He couldn't flinch, flinching was a sign of weakness. The Court of Owls did not tolerate weakness. Apparently the screaming was a mistake, because it only started up again seconds after it stopped. He could not look, they would not allow him to look up, they would not allow him to prepare himself. He needed to do this on his own, but under the command of the Court. If he looked up, the torture would be worse than anything the previous Talon in front of him was going through.

 

The screaming stopped, a rapid panting taking its place. He heard what could have been muffled sobs, but he did not dare to look up. He could offer no words of comfort, not when he felt no comfort himself. He stiffened as he felt something cold and sharp press against his chest, but other than that tried not to react. Apparently the torturer did not like his initial reaction, because he pressed the blade in deeply without warning, slicing a wound that had Dick mentally howling. That was what he did, that's where he released his pain. They had trained him well.

 

The pain was unbearable. It was a poison, designed to harm the Talons should they disobey their masters - in this case go against the rules. _He shall not flinch, he shall not feel, he shall not scream, he will obey and kill who the Court commands_. Dick would like to say he was sickened by how easy it felt to kill, but he couldn't. Emotions had long ago been tortured out of him, during the 'Endurance' level of training. Most potential Talons did not survive that, but Dick did, and he had the scars to prove it. They littered his entire body, a constant remember of who he was, what he was. He was a Talon that served the Court of Owls, and the Court only.

 

There was no warning before the blade was digging into his thigh, obviously intent on taking him down. The torturer had almost succeeded as well, but the wound on his chest - which had yet to heal due to it being a Talon blade* - was enough to keep him standing. It felt like it had him pinned there, fire consuming the small slit and spreading down to his knees. He shut his eyes, it was the most he could do.

 

_I shall not flinch, I shall not feel, I shall not scream, I will obey the Court._

 

He heard a chuckle, and then the sound of a whip and his torturer’s pained scream. He knew why. The torturer was to show no emotion, delight or disdain, at what he or she was doing. At least Talons had free range to do that while torturing, it showed their true colors, the blood-thirsty mess that made them up.

 

"Talon," Dick felt his head snap up, so quick that something in his neck cricked. A guard was watching them with emotionless eyes, "Come with me." Dick blinked in confusion. The guards rarely spoke to the Talons, much less ordered them around, which meant the guard was taking him to the Court.

 

Dick tried not to shake and made sure to triple check that he was not showing any pain, even if he felt it like someone was branding a hot iron onto his leg and chest. A large Owl statue in a pure white room greeted them, and Dick automatically felt himself shudder - it was no matter to be punished, the guard had shuddered to. He quickly led them out of the room - the labyrinth - and down a hallway towards magnificent grand doors which took up the entire wall. Gulping, the guard opened the doors, announcing them both in a firm voice. The room looked like a courthouse... fitting, except everything was bathed in white, and there was no podium or trial stands. Dick was left standing in the middle of the stares of fifty different masked humans, who seemed to be gods in their own ways. Perhaps it was the Owl mask, that allowed no emotion to shine, or their lanky, pale limbs due to living in the sewers, or, the way they carried themselves, like they were the ones in control... which they were. Dick hated and admired the Court. _I hate them, yet I feel devotion - admiration - and I do not know why._ It was wrong to hate them, they gave him... well, life wasn't exactly the word. They killed him before he turned twenty, still nineteen at the time, he lost count of the years after that. It's just... they were all he knew.

 

He fell to one knee and bowed, not meeting the gazes of the Court, but he could feel them penetrating his skin. His knee and chest were rubbing awkwardly against each other, only increasing the agitation.

 

"Talon," that is what they called him, not Dick. In fact, Dick was even starting to question if his name had ever been Dick, or if it had always just been Talon. Or... was it the other way around? He blinked rapidly to banish these thoughts. They appeared sometimes when he didn't expect it, like his brain was foggy or in a blender. His memories became mixed jumbles.

 

_I've always been with the Court._

 

_No I haven't._

 

_My name is Dick Grayson._

 

_No it isn't._

 

_I'm broken._

 

_No, I'm useful._

 

_I'm not human anymore._

 

That last one was where his mental debating stopped, because he wasn't human anymore. Humanity had long been stripped away during his stay at the Court, and any shred left died the day the Court killed him. He remembered it clear as day, the pain as they stabbed him in the chest with a needle that would put Moby Dick's thermometer to shame. Then he woke up, freezing despite the warmth that usually accompanied the Court's sewers. He grew more partial to the warm training room of the Talons. He did not sweat. He had tried not to look into a mirror, but it was eventually inevitable, and he had stood staring at his reflection for a good hour. The serum they had injected into him ever since he was a young, innocent boy at the circus lit blue veins up his neck and towards his pale cheeks. He was never pale. He was half-Romani, he had naturally dark skin. The thing that bothered him - if you could call it that - the most was his eyes. They had always been a blue, clear color, according to Jason - or was it someone else? _Wait, who was Jason_? His eyes were "the bluest fucking eyes in the world". Now they were pure yellow, glinting in the faint light. He...looked like a predator. There was no other word for it. He had stumbled back, still staring at his face, before fleeing the room.

 

"We need you to eliminate a threat to us," said the Court, snapping him out of his memories. "His name is Jason Todd."

 

Dick blinked.

 

_Jason!_

 

_Who's Jason?_

 

_Of course...._

 

"I will do as you ask," Dick looked up for the first time and unbent his knee, standing up straight. "Where is he?"

 

One of the Owls seemed amused. "He is lost."

 

"Lost?" Dick echoed.

 

"He was in New York, and was then pursued into Gotham. Bringing with him Ra’s al-Ghul and the assassins he has hired to bring Todd to him. They threaten us, they have already tried settling near us. Kill the source, and they will all go away. Kill Jason Todd, and we will once again be at peace."

 

Dick bowed again, "I will do as you ask, my Masters."

* * *

 

Dick blended into the shadows perfectly, crouching on a fire-escape and looking at his target as he ran. There was something familiar about him...

 

_Focus on your prey. Do not let him get away!_ Dick shocked himself out of his stupor and mentally berated himself, flinging to another rooftop with a mighty leap, before bouncing off the edge, doing a triple front flip, and landing straight in front of the man. Two blades were in both of his hands within seconds. "Jason Todd," Dick managed to get out, "The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die." 

 


	2. Back to the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out about Jason's past

_The Past_

 

As a kid, Jason Todd knew he wanted one thing. To beat Dick Grayson. They’d known each other for only a year, but Jason wanted nothing more than to bash his head in. He knew Dick wanted to be a cop, Jason knew he wanted to continue being Robin. Both of them would support each other in achieving their roles of course, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t despise each other while doing it. Jason wasn’t stupid, he knew Dick trusted him about as far as he could throw him. Jason couldn’t blame him, he wasn’t exactly a trustworthy guy, but it would have been nice for the Golden Boy to pay a _bit_  more attention to him at least. Well, that’s not exactly true, Dick did come visit as Nightwing sometimes and would try patrolling with Jason as Robin. He had to admit, seeing Nightwing in action was something he never got tired of. He had a certain grace, something that made people stop what they were doing to just watch him. Given, at the time Jason was about 13, he had his hormones all out in public and sparking all over the place, so it wasn’t really a surprise that he started feeling something for him. Not a crush, Jason didn’t get _crushes_ – how girly was that? Not love. Even the word made Jason want to cringe. Just… something. He didn’t know what it had been at the time, but it made him uncomfortable, and it didn’t help that Dick’s girlfriend Kory was sex walking in Jason’s mind. So, basically he had a thing for his surrogate brother and his surrogate brother’s girl. Maybe they’d have a threesome someday. It was a nice dream anyway – and oh yeah, he had plenty of those. Stupid Golden Boy and his stupid hot girlfriend and Jason’s stupid rampaging hormones.

 

Dick of course showed little interest in him. Why should he? He had the hottest girl in the world sleeping in his bed every night, and Jason was just a street punk in his opinion. Just a kid. Then things started to change. Starfire and Nightwing broke up again. Apparently this shit was front-page news, cause that’s how Jason found out about it. So that meant either Kory or Dick was free game, he just had to get his charm on. Jason was fourteen now, he crashed at Dick’s place a lot more often, and it got to the point that Dick would sometimes carry Jason to the guest bedroom (which was practically Jason’s anyway)… but that may have just been because Jason was drunk off his ass and could barely tumble off the couch. He did pride himself on making it to Dick’s bed once, but the older boy seemed a bit weirded out when Jason started making moves on him, and after that he was banned from Dick’s room.

 

_As if._

 

Crashing at Dick’s place had started becoming something of a weekly routine. And he didn’t even need to be drunk for Dick to bring him to bed. Of course Jason never tried anything after the whole incident in Dick’s bedroom, but he could still appreciate Dick’s body. Jason’s complex also went up at the fact that he himself was starting to get a build that would make Achilles jealous. Thinking back on it, comparing himself to Achilles probably wasn’t the best thing to do. Ah whatever, who cares.

 

Jason had been spending the night at Dick’s when he was first taken by the Court of Owls. Jason hadn’t even had time to call out a warning, they just took him, and Dick snoozed on in his bedroom without even knowing about it. Jason didn’t remember much after that, just being scared and feeling so damn alone. They never spoke to him, only fed/watered him occasionally and gave him a bucket to piss in. How thoughtful. Jason was there for months, certain that he was going to die. He had no idea why they were keeping him, until he overheard one of the Talons talking about breaking Dick’s ‘will’ or something like that. Well shit. Things just kept getting better, and now Jason was being used as a pawn to try and break Dick. Which, if he knew his surrogate brother, Dick probably would have blamed himself the entire time anyway. Somehow the Court had gotten it through Golden Boy’s head that Jason was dead… or tortured… or something. Every week felt like a year to Jason, and he knew that if Dick gave in they would let him go, but his brother wasn’t stupid enough to fall for that.

 

Or maybe he was.

 

They kept Jason hidden from Dick’s sight, but that didn’t mean Jason couldn’t see him. After almost a year of not being allowed or able to talk, Jason was infuriatingly not able to call out to his surrogate brother and let him know that he was alive.

 

The most that came out of his mouth was a hoarse, rattling exhale. Maybe something like a whine, but Jason wouldn’t admit to that. That was the last time he saw Dick. It was also the last thing he saw of the Court, because a sharp knock to the back of his head caused the boy to black out completely. When he woke up, he was standing in front of the manor doors. Alfred and Bruce had two very different reactions. Alfred looked overjoyed to see him but Bruce… Bruce just kind of stared at him, like he’d never laid eyes on the boy before. It didn’t exactly improve Bruce’s seemingly lower opinion of him when he could barely talk, and the words he could say were a bit slurred. He didn’t see the big deal though, I mean yeah the last time Jason and Bruce had seen each other they were seconds from fighting. And yeah he might have been the reason that Dick broke his fragile little mind. But he’d been gone almost a year and Bruce didn’t even seem to care. That wasn’t true, Jason knew it wasn’t true. He knew deep down that it was Bruce’s own way of grieving. Jason Todd had come back changed, frightened of the dark and the creatures that resided in it. If he so much as saw a bird or heard the world ‘talon’ his mind would jump to that dark hole the Court had kept him in, and he would withdraw into himself for days. It was kind of pathetic, but it was Jason’s way of dealing with things. It took a whole other year for Jason to get over it, and when he was over it, he was over it. He did not talk about Dick, and Bruce did not talk about Dick. Alfred attempted to, but both of his charges would either ignore him or cut him off. If there was news about the Titans on the television, Jason’s automatic reaction was to shut the TV off. Maybe throw the remote at it in the process. There was no Teen Titans with their leader gone, and Starfire shouldn’t be looking so… well she didn’t exactly look happy, but she didn’t have to look like she was actually coping. The man was _missing_ , not dead!

 

If there was one thing Jason refused to believe, it was that Dick was dead. He did some searching of his own, but each of his leads had trailed to dead ends. Jason knew that Dick was too stubborn to die though, so he kept looking. Two more years of searching had started fueling his detective work, and during his digging he’d uncovered some very disturbing things about himself as well.

 

Such as his mother, Catherine Todd.

 

Except she wasn’t his mother. His mother was some girl called Sheila. He looked up pictures of her. She looked nice, and pretty too. But that wasn’t what bothered Jason… why had she given him up? Why had she left him with his father and apparently fake mother?

 

Since Jason was smart, he decided to follow her to Ethiopia of all places. Once he got there, he realized he wasn’t so smart. The crowbar, clown, thugs and bomb was enough to tell him that.

That’s where his story of pain, desperation, and anger came from. One mistake after another. He didn’t remember coming back to life. Hell he didn’t even remember dying, but apparently everyone else did. He did remember crawling out of his own grave, the dirt choking him, the smell of rotten flesh consuming him. It hurt so much, like he’d been sucker-punched back to life. His story after that was hazy, something he never wanted to revisit. He was a killing machine, nothing more. He had no conscience, no emotions, no feelings of self-worth or pity. He didn’t even care about not caring, because he just couldn’t. He could recognize people, such as Talia al-Ghul. She seemed to like him, she took care of him. She acted more like a parental figure to him then Batman ever would have, which Jason thought was both nice and disturbing on so many levels.

 

Then came the Lazarus Pit. Fire, burning through his veins. A bright, bright light, burning through his eyelids, scorching his eyes. His brain… his brain hurt, it had hurt so bad. Electricity was flowing through it, bringing image after image of his life until he wanted to just scream. But he couldn’t. He tried screaming, but all it did was make him swallow some of the pit’s disturbingly green water. He felt his body convulsing, almost like a really bad case of the hiccups, and he felt someone drag him out of the water. He wasn’t sure if he killed anyone, or hurt anyone, but he remembered coming back to himself covered in blood and water. Talia, to her credit, did not appear alarmed. Her whispered words, “He did not avenge you.”

 

There was no need to ask who ‘He’ was. He failed Dick, and now He failed Jason.

 

He had to pay – but not yet. Jason wasn’t about to go there after being out of practice for so long. No, he trained with the All Caste, in the League of Shadows. He pushed himself to the limit. He killed, maimed and trained. He made enemies, friends, and fragile alliances.

 

But it wasn’t enough. Of course it wasn’t. He wanted revenge, not training. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he wanted nothing more than to see Batman kill the Joker. To avenge Jason’s death.

 

This was Jason’s new obsession, and it had him caught by Ra’s al-Ghul, who wasn’t very pleased with his daughter’s decision to keep Jason. He thought of him as a burden, of course. Like everyone. Jason tried not to feel too sour about that. Then again, it was Ra’s-I-am-better-than-everyone al-Ghul. But still, that didn’t mean he had to try and kill Jason. I mean, it’s not like it was Jason’s fault that Ra’s’s incredibly hot daughter saw some potential in him.

 

So, fast-forwarding to the present, that’s how Jason found himself running through the streets of Gotham.

 

He supposed he should be flattered that Ra’s decided to take such an interest in him, but right now it was a little more than annoying.

 

_Breathe._

 

Jason seemed to have forgotten how to do that.

 

_Run._

 

He was running already.

 

_Breathe._

 

It hurt.

 

**_Stop._ **

 

Why?

 

_CRASH._

 

Oh. That’s why. He rubbed his head, feeling stars exploding in front of his eyes.

 

It took him a moment to see what he had crashed into – or rather who he had crashed into. Shit. As if his life wasn’t complicated enough, a fucking fairy tale had him cornered. And not just any fairy tale. No, that would make his life too easy. The person staring down at him was a face he would never forget. It had its differences of course. It was hard to see in the moonlight, but blue veins were crawling up the man’s neck and towards his cheeks. His eyes were yellow, and glinted as they looked down at him. He had his head tilted in a way that spoke no good news for Jason.

 

A Talon. Of course it was a fucking Talon. Not just that, this Talon just happened to be his long lost brother Dick Grayson.

 

He hadn’t heard what Dick said, his ears had been ringing too loudly for that, but judging by the look on Dick’s face it wasn’t anything good.

 

Jason slowly pushed himself off the ground, trying to appear as non-threatening as he could when he saw the Talon inch forward. “Listen, Dick, I don’t want any trouble.”

 

Dick stopped dead at that, and stared at Jason as though he’d never seen him before. Which, in Dick’s mind, he probably hadn’t. Jason nearly jumped a mile when he heard voices behind him.

 

“Grab the bastard and kill the freak!” He whipped around to see four assassins on his tail. Jason hadn’t even been able to grab his gun when suddenly Dick was moving. Jason gaped. Dick had just flipped straight over his head and landed squat on top of one of the men, bringing him down and causing the assassin’s head to smash to the ground. Blood started pooling around him, and Jason had the horrible thought that Dick had just killed a man by doing nothing more than jumping on top of him. The other assassins barely had time to open their mouths when Dick was on them, his feet barely touching the ground as he landed kicks and punches to the men. Despite being assassins, the men could barely keep up with him. He was moving like liquid, untouchable and quick. The only reason that Jason could see him was because Dick’s face was still uncovered, but it was splattered with red. Jason recognized it as blood.

 

It was probably from when Dick had stabbed one of the men in the throat, causing blood to spray everywhere. It took maybe a two minutes… perhaps three… until all of the men were lying in puddles of their own blood, dead.

 

Jason stared. This was wrong. So wrong. Dick snapped his head back up to look at Jason, who took an automatic stumble back. This was Dick. But it wasn’t. Dick’s eyes were filled with a lust – a lust for the blood he’d just spilled everywhere.

 

_What had they done to him?_

 

“Jason Todd…” Jason didn’t like the way Dick was looking at him like that, nor the way he took a few steps forward, his eyes narrowed. “The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die.”


	3. On the Run

“Wait!” Hell no, Jason Todd did not come all this way to be killed by a guy in a freaking bird costume. If he was going to go, he wanted to go with some class. “Dick, you gotta listen to me. It’s me. It’s Jason.”

 

Jason had thought that had gotten through to him, but Dick simply cocked his head to the side, as though he had no idea what Jason was talking about. Jason huffed in annoyance and tried again, “Jason Todd. Awesome, sexy younger brother? You used to let me sleep over your house for fuck’s sake!”

 

Again with the head tilt. A part of Jason thought that was strangely endearing, another part was disgusted at the thought that he had been sappy. However, the part of his brain that was actually intelligent, was telling him that he really should just dash out of there because Dick was looking at him like he was a piece of meat – and not in the good way. But when he turned around to do just that – holy fuck how did Dick manage to move so fast? Hadn’t he been behind him? Jason stumbled back a few steps and almost landed on his ass, but he managed to straighten himself before he did something embarrassing like fall in a puddle or something equally stupid. Dick had knives in his hand, and it was obvious that Jason could be dead in seconds – should have been dead seconds ago – but for some reason Dick was hesitating. Jason quickly jumped on this.

 

“You don’t want to kill me.” Jason slightly revised this opinion as a blade went soaring past his head and slashed his cheek, but he managed to stand his ground and not turn tail out of there like he wanted to. It was obvious running would get him absolutely nowhere. He had no idea where Dick got this sudden super speed, but he was betting that it had something to do with the Court. Along with those admittedly awesome yellow eyes. “Okay okay, let’s go with this then: Why does the Court want me dead?” Jason was honestly curious, because he had pissed a lot of people off but he had no idea that any of them were connected to the Court.

 

Dick was starting to look a bit frustrated, but a second later it was concealed by a stoic mask. “Isn’t this the part where you should be running?” Was it just Jason or did Dick sound slightly disappointed? That was… worrying. Then again so was this whole fucking situation.

 

“Tried that, remember? That’s how we’re in this position.”

 

Dick gave him a long look, then stood up from his offensive crouch. “I’ll give you a two minute headstart. I’d start running if I were you.”

 

Wow, cocky much? Usually the bad guys were all “five seconds”, yet Dick was sitting here thinking he could easily catch up to Jason within two minutes? Whatever, Jason wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and he ran like a bat out of hell. Jason never thought he’d be running from Dick, be scared of Dick, but apparently fate disagreed with him. Jason vaguely wondered if Bruce knew about this.

 

He ran as fast as he could, mentally counting the seconds in his head, and eventually jumped into an alleyway right before the two minute mark. He kept counting though, curious to see just how fast Dick could actually run. Fifty seven seconds later showed Dick running the same path Jason had taken, stopping in the clearing just feet away from where Jason was. The younger held his breath, biting his lip to keep in any sounds, as the Talon started to look around. “Come out come out little bird. Don’t you want to play?”

 

Jason mentally shuddered at the sight of the blades Dick was twirling around in his fingers, and felt his breath hitch when those yellow eyes turned to look directly at the shadow Jason was standing in. Heart pounding, knowing that he’d been spotted, Jason ran for dear life. He didn’t get very far when he was tackled from behind, his face meeting the ground in a rather unpleasant way. Before Jason could angst about the unfairness of his life, Dick had grabbed him by the arm and turned him over so that he was on his back. Not wasting a second the Talon straddled his chest, knocking most of the air out of Jason along with some of his dignity, and pinned his arms down with the Talon’s knees digging into his elbows. Jason stared up at Dick as Dick brought out a knife and started tracing it down his chest, not enough to cut the skin but enough to cut through the fabric of the shirt Jason had.

 

“What are you waiting for then?” Jason asked after about twenty seconds had gone by with the Talon not making a move to kill him. “Scared?”

 

A part of Jason wondered why he was throwing his life on the line with his obviously insane older assassin brother, but he was scared and the only way Jason dealt with fear was through anger or sarcasm. Dick paused, as though wondering why Jason was baiting him, and narrowed his eyes in a rather predatorily way. Within seconds his blade was against Jason’s throat, who swallowed. He really needed to stop talking.

 

Jason felt the blade dig deeper into his throat, enough to draw blood, and he closed his eyes, absolutely sure that this was the end. But then the pressure on his throat disappeared, and Jason peered an eye open to see Dick glaring at something. He turned his head to see what Dick was looking at, both eyes open this time, but could only see shadows. He coughed and Dick’s eyes darted back to the man currently being squashed underneath of him.

 

“Dick… are you happy with the Court of Owls?” Jason wasn’t sure why he’d even asked it, and apparently neither was Dick. “Like… do you really want to be with them?”

 

Dick narrowed his eyes again, “I do not want, and it does not matter how I feel. I serve the Court because I must – because I am theirs to command.”

 

Jason sighed in frustration, “I know all of that, but why do you listen to what the Court tells you?”

 

Dick also sounded frustrated. “I am a Talon for the Court of Owls, it is my duty to listen to their orders and carry them out.”

 

“But you weren’t always a Talon,” Jason knew he was walking on thin ice, but he was going to try everything he could to save his skin. “You were normal, everyday Dick Grayson once. No freaking idiots in Owl masks telling you what to do –“ Dick hissed at him but Jason carried on regardless “you had your own life and your own choices. You did what you wanted, you chose to do what you wanted. You had a free will.”

 

Jason had noticed that as he was talking Dick was starting to look interested, which was a big improvement to how he’d been before – you know, wanting to slit Jason’s throat open. “You had a horrible taste of clothes – I can see that hasn’t changed much,” Jason gave Dick’s Talon costume a flat look, and Dick’s eyebrows knitted together “and you ate cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner practically. Do they let you eat cereal at the Court?”

 

Dick slowly shook his head, but made no move to either get off of Jason or slit his throat. Jason frowned, “Absolutely none?”

 

Dick didn’t answer this time, but the look in his eyes said it all. “What do they feed you then?”

 

Jason regretted this question slightly when Dick tensed, face twisted into a slightly angry expression before he schooled that over with the same calm and collected look he’d had the whole night. “I can get you out,” Okay, this was a complete lie, Jason had no idea how to get Dick out, but it was better than dying. “I can’t do that if I’m dead though.”

 

Dick was still on top of him, but Jason could have sworn that he saw something – a flash of hope – in those eyes, but he might have been imagining it. It was gone so quickly. Just when Jason thought he might be out of the clear, the blade was back against his throat again.

 

“How can I trust you?” Dick hissed. “Why should I trust you?”

 

Jason looked up at him seriously. “You shouldn’t” Dick tensed again, and Jason quickly added “but I’m the only chance you’ve got.”

 

Dick glared at him and waved the blade around threateningly, “One word, one hint of betrayal, and you’re dead. You’re worse than dead. You’ll be chopped up into pieces and thrown into the river so nobody can find you.”

 

Jason blinked, but by the look on Dick’s face he was being completely serious. “I… I believe you. I won’t betray you or whatever.”

 

Dick gave him one last long look before getting off of him. This had to be a dream, some kind of fucking miracle. Jason quickly sat up, but didn’t move because he knew that the Talon would see that as a betrayal or a threat. Dick was observing him coldly, “So, how are you going to do this?”

 

Those words. They gave Jason a chill up his spine because it was real now. Before Jason had just been saying it, but now… now he had to. “Well first, we’re going to go back to my place.”

 

Dick gave him a look and Jason couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Don’t worry, it’ll be completely naughty-free.”

 

This time Dick scowled at him, and Jason had to remind himself that Dick was a dangerous assassin and teasing him would not be wise. “I have some cereal, you can have it if you want. And I’m tired, I’ve been running around all day.”

 

It seemed that Dick was thinking about something else though. “You live around here?”

 

“Well yeah, I’ve lived in Gotham my whole life. It’s not like a house or apartment, but it’s a pretty awesome warehouse if I do say so myself.”

 

“I was told that you were on the run,” Dick looked around then, as though expecting someone to jump out at them.

 

Jason snorted, “I was, then you killed those guys after me. Not to say that there won’t be more, because Ra’s is a stubborn son of a bitch, but for now I’m – we’re good.”

 

A suspicious look was sent Jason’s way, but eventually Dick nodded. “Fine. You’d better be right about this little bird.” Jason grimaced, “Can you not call me that? I feel like dinner when you say that. Just call me Jason.” Dick seemed a bit put-out, but eventually gave in. “Alright Jason.”

 

Somehow Jason had the feeling that ‘little bird’ was going to become Dick’s new favorite nickname for him. 


	4. This is Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason brings Dick to his hideout and gets an unexpected reaction

Jason made sure to keep Dick in his line of sight the whole way to the warehouse. The man was looking tense, as though he wanted to make a break for it, but was either too curious or too desperate to do it. When he opened the door to the warehouse Dick gave him a doubtful look, but went inside anyway. It wasn’t much, and it had obviously been rearranged to resemble something of a house (albeit poorly) but Jason had done his best with it.

 

The warehouse itself just looked like a normal old storage place from the outside, and the first few steps inside were practically all shelves that should probably be filled with normal things like bubble wrap or some crap toys, but this was where Jason put all of his weapons and costumes. Behind the lines of shelves however, was a little place Jason couldn’t quite call home but it was the closest he’d be getting to it. There was a Full bed, cheap quality but surprisingly comfortable. A couple of sturdy tables that Jason had made himself put together to create a counter, a mini-fridge to put his beer in (and occasionally a snack for when he got hungry), a shower that he had installed (very proud), a toilet (again, something he installed), a couch and a crappy TV. He was also pretty certain that there were a few porno magazines lying around but he wasn’t about to go telling Dick about them. He was just glad they were out of sight.

 

Dick was looking around. He didn’t seem too impressed and Jason had to fight down any indignant feelings over that. He’d worked pretty damn hard on this shithole.

 

“You hungry?” Jason asked after the silence became too much. Dick shook his head, but didn’t give a verbal answer.

 

“Alright… thirsty? I have some beer.”

 

Dick simply gave him a blank look, and Jason wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t remember what beer was or if he simply thought Jason was just being stupid. Jason sighed and walked over to the mini-fridge, grabbing two Miller Lights out of it and handing one of the brown bottles to Dick. “Try it.”

 

Dick hesitated, looking at the bottle like it was filled with poison. Jason snorted and popped the cap off of his own, taking a huge gulp and making an exaggerated “Mmm” sound, curious to see if Dick would try it. Dick’s eyes narrowed, and Jason could practically see the competitive nature rising inside of him as he ripped off the cap to his beer and took a large swig of it, spitting it back out almost immediately with a disgusted face. Jason couldn’t help but to laugh, although Dick wasn’t looking very amused at all, half of his beer on his shirt.

 

Despite the murderous look Dick was sending him, Jason was still chuckling, although to be fair he was looking around the “kitchen” area for napkins to wipe Dick’s shirt off at the same time. Dick was watching him with guarded, yellow eyes while he did so, and Jason had to fight the urge to shiver. He didn’t look Dick in the face when he came back over with a shitload of napkins, but he frowned at the sight of the soaked shirt. “Take that off.”

 

To say Jason was surprised when Dick obeyed his command without question would be an understatement. There was a moment in which Jason was certain that he had fallen into the twilight zone or something – well, actually that was pretty much his whole night – but the sight of the scars wrapped around Dick’s flesh like snakes made his mouth go dry, and the smile quickly fell from his face. He knew that the Court was harsh, damn did he know, but he hadn’t seen anything like this before. Before he could stop himself he circled Dick, who even more surprisingly didn’t seem to mind the scrutiny, although he was looking at Jason in a rather defensive manor.

 

Jason ignored this and took a few steps closer to him, eyes tracing the scars – old and new. Some he knew from back when Dick was Nightwing, but most of them were fresh. He had to swallow bile at the sight of a couple of them. Dick’s body was still attractive, as was his face (yes, despite the situation he had definitely noticed that), but thinking about how Dick could have gotten these scars made his stomach churn and he had to look away. He handed the napkins to Dick and took a few steps away before he did something stupid like try and touch them, or something that would most likely get his wrist snapped in half.

 

Dick meanwhile was wiping the beer off of him, completely shameless about his scars apparently, even though Jason would be mortified if it were him. Then again… it might be a terrible thought but they kind of looked sexy on him. Not that Jason was thinking about that or anything. Just an observation.

 

It took a moment of Jason staring at the ground to realize that the napkins were now wet with beer and being held in front of his face. He quickly snatched them from Dick’s hand and threw them in the waste bin he kept next to the “counter”.

 

“If you want you can use the shower. I don’t have any shampoos or anything but I do have some soap…”

 

Dick shot him a distrustful look and Jason sighed. Dick was going to have to get over his trust issues if he wanted to work with Jason – although Jason didn’t really have a lot of room to talk since his own trust issues were legendary.

 

“I mean, unless you like smelling like beer then be my guest, but I figured you’d want to get the chance to wash off.” Dick hesitated and Jason rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. I’m getting a shower – you can join me if you want,” He was joking. He swore he was joking. Though the thought of Dick getting in with him – yeah no, definitely not going there.

 

A part of Jason wanted Dick to stay within his sights for a bit longer though, because the last thing he needed was the crazed assassin running away or trying to kill him or something. Shit, this was a bad idea. For all Jason knew Dick was a sleeper agent, and he’d be playing right into him like putty. Stupid, stupid reckless decision, but it had already been made and if Dick was being sincere about his situation he probably wouldn’t like Jason’s line of thinking.

 

“You can uh… watch TV if you want or something while you’re waiting,” Jason gestured at the shitty tv screen. “It’s nothing special but –“

 

“I like it,” it was the first thing that Dick had said upon arriving in the warehouse and Jason let out a mental sigh of relief.

 

“Okay then… I’ll see you soon?”

 

Dick looked him up and down, “A shower should not take that long, I will wait here.”

 

Jason handed Dick the remote to the TV, who glanced down at it in confusion. Jason mentally groaned. “It’s a remote, moron. For the TV? You know, changing the channels and the volume?”

 

 

Dick glared at him, “I know what it is!” he made no move to grab the remote though and Jason set it down on the couch next to him. “Fine. Have fun staring at the blank screen.”

 

As he was heading to the bathroom Jason snuck a glance behind him and saw Dick studying the remote – holding it upside down. Jason’s lips twitched slightly. This was a fucking terrible idea, but one that he really wanted to try.


	5. Hypocrite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason have some shaky discussions

It took a while for the Talon to trust Jason enough to take a shower, but Jason could see how tense Dick was when he stepped behind the curtain. Jason tried to give him as much privacy as he could, but he was on edge and couldn’t help but to imagine what Dick would look like unclothed.

 

A moment later he found out when Dick stepped out from behind the curtain, completely shameless in all his naked glory. Jason couldn’t help but to stare, then quickly looked away when he realized what he was doing. Dick just went and grabbed some clothes that were laid out for him. At least the shirt wasn’t white. Jason only dared to look back up at him when he had his pants on, and studied the upper part of his body. “What happened to you? You didn’t have so many scars before.”

 

“Before?” Dick looked confused for a moment, then had a moment of clarity and his face cleared. “Oh yes, when you claimed to have known me.” It was obvious by the disbelief in his voice that he still had a shaky trust with Jason and his intentions.

 

That plus the sight of the new scars was starting to piss Jason off. “Who did this to you? The Court?” _Obviously, Todd._

Dick sneered at him. “Who else?”

 

Jason shrugged for an answer, not knowing what to say to that. It had been a pretty stupid question now that he thought about it. There was silence for a moment until Dick gestured to his Talon jacket. “Hand over my clothes.”

 

Jason frowned; he hadn’t even been aware Dick _owned_ any clothes. “Your clothes? I don’t have your clothes here, but you can wear the ones I just gave you.”

 

Dick mentally grimaced at the thought of wearing nothing but this plain old T-shirt. “I meant my Talon outfit.”

 

Jason found himself shaking his head before he even knew what he was doing. “No. If you’re staying here you’ll wear normal clothes like me. Besides, it’ll be obvious if someone sees you walking around in a that getup anyway.”

 

Dick shot him an annoyed look but put on the blue normal shirt, feeling uncomfortable without the weight of his knives in his Talon jacket’s pockets. Jason watched as the scars vanished under the shirt, feeling a rare emotion bubbling up inside of him. “Don’t worry Dickiebird, I’m sure Bruce can find someone to take them away for you. Or… well,” he thought about the worse scars, “not all of them, but some.”

 

“Who’s Bruce?” Dick asked listlessly, not really bothered by his scars.

 

Jason snorted. “Oh wow. Bruce Wayne, our guardian? Richest man in all of Gotham…?”

 

Dick’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and there was a weird gleam to his eyes. Jason didn’t like it one bit. “Bruce Wayne?” Dick repeated, and there was nothing warm in his voice. Nothing like the old Dick Grayson. “I’ve heard of him before.”

 

Jason found himself automatically tensing in response to the look on Dick’s face, prepared for either a fight or flight. “Okay, why are your eyes narrowed in that serial killer way now?”

 

“Because we- _the Court-“_ Dick corrected himself at the last minute, “isn’t a fan of his… nighttime job.”

 

Jason almost took a step back, but managed to stand his ground. “What do you mean?” he tried going for casual, but he was pretty sure the tenseness must have seeped into his voice. He was also pretty sure he knew what Dick was talking about, but he wasn’t going to expose Bruce willingly. If Dick didn’t know about it… well, that would cause a whole new set of problems and it would be Jason’s fault.

 

Dick looked like he was heavily resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “You know exactly what I mean.”

 

“… You know? How is that…? Who told you?”

 

“Oh,” said Dick, the sarcasm coming back to his voice. “Here it was because I thought we supposedly _knew_ each other.”

 

They would really have to work on those trust issues. “The Court told me.”

 

“I thought the Court only took away bad guys,” if he was a little bitter, he so had a good reason to be.

 

“Took away?” Dick shot him a look. “We’re not _Batman._ We kill, not lock them in a cell.”

 

Jason waved it off. “You know what I meant. He wants to make the city better too, so why are you so against him?”

 

“He interferes too often,” Dick huffed.

 

“So you think they all deserve to die, then?”

 

“The ones the Court targets?” Dick clarified. “Yes.”

 

Jason sighed and sat down on the couch. “When I was a kid, before Bruce took me in, I lived on the streets. My dad was a criminal and a professional asshole. My mom was a drug addict. I had to scrape for food every day to get by, so I started stealing. If Bruce hadn’t found me, I’d probably have continued down that road. Maybe joined a gang when I got older and got into a lot of trouble. Maybe I’d become one of the people you were sent to kill. But I didn’t become that person, because Bruce gave me a second chance, just like he gives all of those people behind bars a second chance.” Jason felt like a bit – okay a lot – like a hypocrite saying this, but he was talking to the former Golden Boy. Previous Dick would have listened to this, so Jason was hoping this Dick would too.

 

“Okay… I don’t see what this has to do with the Court’s way of thinking. Wayne – sorry, _Bruce –_ is one man. The Court _is_ Gotham though. We – they – know who should and shouldn’t be allowed to continue breathing.”

 

Jason frowned. “What about the people who have no other choice then to do bad? Like I was? Because they had to survive or were forced by others? What about people who were framed or falsely accused?”

 

“We don’t deal with criminals like Batman does. We deal with the corrupt cops, the politician who rose to power on blood money. People like that. Besides, I know your story,” he added. “I highly doubt you’re a saint yourself if you have Ra’s al-Ghul after you.”

 

“A saint?” Jason snorted. “Oh no, definitely not a saint.”

 

“Well then don’t judge me,” it came out as a growl, half frustrated half upset.

 

Jason grinned. “I’m not,” he got up from the couch and went to the mini fridge, as though expecting food to have magically appeared in thin air. “Sorry, still no food.”

 

“I’m not hungry anyway,” said Dick, giving the cereal Jason had set out for him a distasteful look. Jason mentally sighed, “Alright, I’ll leave it out then in case you get hungry later. I’m heading to bed, do you mind sleeping on the couch?”

 

Dick glanced over at the couch, thinking that he’d slept on worse, and even though the couch didn’t look very comfortable at least it was better then the floor. “No, I don’t mind.”

 

Jason gave him a long look before opening a cabinet under the counter which had extra bed sheets. Not very soft, and it wouldn’t be good long term, but it would have to do. He threw them at Dick, who caught them with lightning fast reflexes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

As Dick turned to put the sheets on the couch he heard Jason’s voice and froze at his words. “Dickie, for what it’s worth… I’m happy you're still in one piece. I knew you couldn’t be dead.”

 

“… Right,” trying to clear the awkwardness Dick went back to fixing the sheets on the couch. Jason hesitated for a second, questions clear on his mind, but Dick seemed tense enough without Jason pushing him. _I’ll talk to him later._ Jason disappeared to the back, collapsing on his bed. He tried to fall asleep, but his senses were all too aware that he had a deadly assassin sleeping on his couch. _What did my life become?_

Dick meanwhile was having sleeping problems of his own, although he was no stranger to this. He was too busy thinking of all of the horrible things the Court would do when – not if – when they found Dick and Jason eventually. _This was a bad idea… the Court would never tolerate this ignorance. Of course, that’s the reason I decided to leave in the first place…_

After a moment of losing himself in morbid thoughts, Dick got up from the couch and turned on the TV (Jason had shown him how to work the remote properly, despite his claims that he knew how to do it already). He could _just_ see Jason through the shadows if he looked hard enough, and that was only because of his enhanced vision. Jason was either asleep or pretending to, so Dick made sure to keep the volume low. There was some show called ‘Supernatural’ on, and it quickly caught Dick’s attention for the rest of the night.

 

 


	6. Beauty Products

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Dick start to plan how to go against the Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait guys, I've been sick. Really bad cold turned into bronchitis, but I'm mostly over it now thankfully.

When Jason woke up the next morning, he almost forgot about how fucked up everything had become in the past 24 hours. A noise in the kitchen area soon reminded him about his crazy assassin brother however, and he stifled the urge to groan. _I need to tell Bruce about this… dammit._

Problem was, Bruce and Jason weren’t exactly on speaking terms. He didn’t even know Jason was alive, or maybe he did and just didn’t bother to give Jason a call or a visit. Jason wondered what Bruce’s reaction to all of this would be, thinking about how that stoic cold might disappear off his face if only for a minute, how that gravelly voice of his might crack. But, of course, that would mean he had to care, and Jason was pretty sure that Bruce didn’t give a rats ass about him. If he did, the Joker would be dead.

 

Jason got up and went into the kitchen area to see what his Talon was up to. _He had cared about Dick… he deserves to know. Or maybe he doesn’t. He… he could have looked harder. He’s the goddamn Batman, he should have been able to find Dick sooner._

Dick was cautiously eating the cereal that Jason had left out for him, of course it didn’t have any milk in it, but Dick didn’t seem to mind that.

  
“Good morning.”

 

The look of surprise was unexpected, even though it masked over a few seconds later into that calm and collected look that seemed to be Dick’s favorite these days. It made Jason confused – he hadn’t exactly been quiet in approaching so Dick had to have known he’d been there.

 

“… Good morning?”

 

 _Oh._ It all came crashing down on Jason and he felt like a bit of an idiot. _Yeah, I doubt he exchanged many pleasantries with the Court of Owls._

 

Jason sat across the table from him, studying him, and Dick studied him back, although he seemed more wary than curious. “What happened to your face?” Jason asked, seemingly out of the blue.

 

Dick scrunched his face in a slightly adorable way – not that Jason would ever admit that - looking confused. “What?”

 

“The blue veins and… you're so pale.” _It doesn’t look like you._

 

“Oh…” Dick seemed suddenly uncomfortable and he didn’t look at Jason. “It happened when the Court killed me.”

 

Jason tried his hardest not to make a face – he really did. He just wasn’t sure if it worked or not. “Is it ever gonna return to… you know… normal?”

 

Dick gave him an annoyed look that lingered for longer than most of the emotions on his face. “I will remain looking like this forever.”

 

 _Oh._ “Well… you still look good.” Jason wasn’t sure if Dick still cared about his appearances or not, but he wasn’t lying. He just looked different.

 

Dick obviously didn’t believe him, but he didn’t say anything, instead he just frowned at him.

 

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence before Jason started his questioning again. “You really don’t remember anything? About me and our family I mean?”

 

Dick shook his head, sighing. “I told you this already.”

 

Jason groaned. “Well, perhaps we can look through some photos? Maybe that’ll like… spark your memory or something.”

 

“I do remember your name,” Dick said suddenly, ignoring Jason’s suggestion completely. “Well I did. When the Court sent me to kill you, I recognized your name.”

 

Then, to Jason’s complete surprise Dick got up and walked over to him, too much into his personal bubble for Jason’s tastes as he studied him. “But your face is new to me.”

 

Jason had to heavily resist the urge to back away, and checked Dick’s hands to make sure he wasn’t holding knives or anything. The last thing he needed was to be gutted by Dick.

 

“R-Really?” Fucking stutter. “Ouch.”

 

“Mhm, weird isn’t it? Why can’t I remember your face?” Dick’s words were irritated, but his face was indifferent.

 

“… Come with me in my room. I think I’ve got some pictures of us.”

 

Dick gave him a disbelieving look. “You want me to just _go_ with you?”

 

Jason huffed. “It’s just the other room, stop being so damn paranoid.”

 

“…” Dick sighed but followed after him, not liking how he didn’t have the weight of numerous blades on him, but at least he had one in his pocket in case Jason tried anything. Not that Jason needed to know that.

 

Jason was unaware of his thoughts, and instead was rummaging around. He’d almost given up hope when he found something that he’d been looking for back when he was on his hunt for Dick _years_ ago. He’d almost forgotten about the damn thing. He knew there was pictures of them in there, and handed one of the images to Dick. “That’s you, that’s me and that’s Bruce Wayne.”

 

Dick stared at the picture for a long time before looking up at Jason. “It could be fake.”

 

Jason tried not to sound annoyed. “And why would I have fake pictures of dude’s who looked like you lying around?”

 

Dick didn’t want to admit that he had a point and looked back down at the picture. “…Fine, perhaps you’re right. I have a question though,” he added, interrupting Jason’s mental victory dance.

 

“Okay, hit me.”

 

“Why would the Court want me if I was under the guidance of one of our – _their_ – biggest annoyances?”

 

Jason bit his lip. He hadn’t actually thought of that to be honest, so he had to try and come up with something on the spot. “They wanted to use you as a way to get back at Batman? I don’t fucking know.”

 

Dick ignored his cursing, instead looking deep in thought. “…It’s not impossible.”

 

“Would you like to meet Bruce?”

 

“No,” it wasn’t quick, but there was no hesitation. Jason snorted, “At least you’re honest.”

 

“I see no reason to lie,” Dick said plainly.

 

“Do you remember Kori?”

 

“Kory?” Dick repeated, trying to remember but the name seemed unfamiliar. “No, who is that?”

 

“Hm… the love of your life kinda. Or, until she got married I guess.”

 

“If she was the ‘love of my life’, why would she get married?” Dick actually looked genuinely curious for once.

 

“She had no other choice apparently. She did it for peace or whatever.”

 

“Peace? Does she live in a different country or something?”

 

Jason snorted. This was going to be fun. “Try a different planet.”

 

Dick obviously hadn’t expected that, and his eyes widened for a second. “Another _planet?”_

“Yep, aliens are hella sexy sometimes,” Jason gave Dick a smirk before falling serious. “This is getting us nowhere. You don’t seem to remember shit.”

 

This time Dick made a face over his cursing, and Jason mentally rolled his eyes. He was still the same in some aspects at least. “Let’s try something else then. Would you believe me if someone else confirmed my words?”

 

“Who?” The wariness in his tone was back, and Jason bit back a sigh. “Well, you did have an awful amount of friends before you were taken – not sure _how_ – you even worked with this team called the Teen Titans.”

 

“I worked in a team? Like the Court?”

 

Jason made a face. “Yeah… kind of… you seriously lack references Dickie-bird.”

 

Dick gave him a confused look, “Dickie-bird?”

 

“… It’s your nickname,” Jason was a bit uncomfortable. “You’re Dickie-bird and I’m Little Wing.” _Remember?_

“That’s peculiar.”

 

It was stupid, it was dumb, but Jason was slightly sad that he didn’t remember that. This made it seem even _more_ real. “Mhm… well, you never answered my question about talking to some of the Teen Titan members.”

 

“I… I don’t know. I…” _I’m uncomfortable around you… I can’t be around numerous people. Not yet at least._

Jason mentally sighed, knowing where his train of thought was going. “It’s okay, we’ll just have to figure something else out or whatever.” Jason tried thinking of something they could do in the meantime. “We can always focus on bringing down the Court, that’s what you wanted right?”

 

Dick seemed to perk up and nodded. “Yes.”

 

Jason sat on the couch and looked up at Dick. “But somehow you seem to still agree with what they do.”

 

“I believe they’re right. Those people don’t deserve to live… but how they control us is… unpleasant.”

 

“So that’s all?” Jason frowned slightly. “It’s ‘unpleasant’? Cause if you wanna go up against the Court of fucking Owls –“ Jason huffed as Dick winced. “Yes, I will curse, get used to it. Anywho, if you wanna go up against them it’s gonna get messy. You’ll need a stronger resolve than it’s ‘unpleasant’.”

 

“I agree with them targeting people,” was it just Jason or did he manage to bring out the emotions in Dick – namely irritation. He wasn’t quite sure if that was a bad or good thing. “But not how they do it.”

 

Jason smirked and leaned forward. “Are you ready to kill them for it? To go up against your masters? Because I need to know where I have you so you don’t back away like some coward once we reach that bridge.”

 

Dick shot him a scorching look that made Jason want to take back his words. “I am _not_ a coward.”

 

“…Well good,” Jason leaned back, away from swinging distance from Dick. “So, do they have any weaknesses?”

 

Dick shifted, it was obvious that he felt uncomfortable telling Jason information this secret. “The Owls are normal humans, but they are in command of us. The Talons…” Dick grimaced. “Don’t like the cold.” _He said weaknesses, not how to kill us- them._

“Hm… well I’m not a fan of fighting Talons. Maybe we should simply target the Owls then.”

 

“They will be guarded by Talons,” Dick warned him and Jason let out a frustrated noise. “Are they ever alone?”

 

“Not really.”

 

“How fucking amazing. Could we somehow infiltrate the place?”

 

Dick was silent for a moment. “…We could disguise ourselves as Talons, but I only have one Talon costume.”

 

“Well that’s just great,” Jason chewed his lip. “You said the Owls were normal humans. Could I somehow pretend to be one of them?”

 

Dick almost laughed until he realized that Jason was serious. “You’d still have to get in the Court, and in their quarters to grab a mask and suit.”

 

“Mask and suit?” Jason lost himself in thought. “Well… there’s a party store nearby. Maybe we can find something similar there.”

 

“We could try I suppose…” Dick sounded way too doubtful for Jason’s liking, but it was the only thing he could think of on a whim. “Great,” Jason looked at Dick and studied him. “What about your face though?”

 

Dick gave Jason an irritated look, but Jason only smirked. “What? We don’t want people wondering – do we?”

 

Dick huffed, “I’ll wear something with a hood then.”

 

“And what if they mistake you for a burglar?” Jason countered. “This is Gotham after all.”

 

“Well then what do you suggest?”

 

“I think there’s some leftover makeup around here…” Jason went to search the racks. “Yep, here they are. It’s a big lighter then your usual- previous skin color, but it should work I think.”

 

 Dick followed after him a bit curiously. “Why do you own feminine beauty products?”

 

Jason brought him into the light before smearing some down Dick’s chin, making sure that the coloring didn’t look weird. “It’s not mine, it belonged to a prostitute I hooked up with once.”

 

Dick made a face and Jason chuckled, giving him a nudge. “Stop looking down on people like that.”

 

Dick sighed, _I’m never going to get this right. Maybe I should have stayed with the Court._

He _almost_ flinched away when Jason suddenly cupped his cheek, but just managed not to. _What is he doing?_

“Hey, keep your chin up.”

 

“You already told me not to look down.” Dick was joking, but he said it in a flat voice to see if Jason would think he meant it literally or not.

 

Jason just chuckled though, smearing the rest of the beauty product on Dick’s cheeks and neck. “You liked puns back in the old days too.”

 

“I did?” Dick tried to imagine this, but like every time he tried thinking about his past, it felt wrong.

 

“Mhm… I believe your done now,” Jason took a step back and observed Dick, before smirking. “Pretty like a painted whore.”

 

Dick glared at him, “I still have a blade in my pocket you know.”

 

 _Oh shit…_ “I was just kidding.”

 

Dick snorted and went to go check himself out in the mirror, thinking that he almost looked like a normal human besides the yellow eyes. He glanced over at Jason who was putting on his coat.

 

“Come on, we should get to the shop before they close.”

 

“Can I at least put my boots on? Yours are too big.” _And mine has knives in it._

“Yeah, sure, I guess they’re not too conspicuous.”

 

Dick actually smiled at him. It was gone quickly, but he had smiled a genuine one. Jason felt very accomplished all of the sudden. Jason waited for him to get his boots on and then they headed out.


	7. Party Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jay run into an unexpected problem while out, or maybe not so unexpected.

Dick’s first impression of the party store was that it was very dark, which made it easier for the flashing multicolored lights to be seen around the shop. Music was playing in the background and two teenage girls nearby were singing to it. Dick turned to look at Jason, but he was staring at a woman dressed in a skimpy Robin costume. After a quick scope of looking around, Dick spotted some fake knives and quickly went over to compare which ones looked the most real.

 

Some of them were ridiculous, but a few of them looked very real. Almost too real to be allowed in the store, but when Dick went to examine the blade it was plastic. After a moment of rummaging through the fake knives he froze, for a moment having a flash back to one of those torture sessions with the Talon blade. He almost jumped when he heard Jason’s voice next to his ear, he’d been so lost in his memories. “So, anything resemble the fashion style of the Court?”

 

Dick picked up the Talon blade look-alike. “This greatly resembles one of our blades.”

 

Jason rolled his eyes, of course Dick would go for the blades. “I meant for the Owls, dumbass.”

 

Dick sent him a glare but wandered off to look for something that an Owl might find appealing. Jason left again, probably to ogle at more women dressed in scanty costumes, leaving Dick to look around. So far he hadn’t found anything that the Owls would wear, even the handcuffs looked inferior to the ones the Court used. Jason wandered back over and without giving Dick any type of warning, stuck a Batman mask on him. Dick immediately ripped it off and handed it back to Jason like it was riddled with some kind of disease. “ _No._ ”

 

“Aw come on Dickie-bird, ease up will ya.” Jason gave him a cheeky smirk and Dick narrowed his eyes before returning back to looking for disguises. Jason let the smile drop from his face when Dick turned away, thinking back on the _real_ Dick. Back when he wasn’t a mindless drone with no sense of humor. He regretted picking so many fights with Dick when Dick wasn’t really that much of an asshole to him. He had his good memories of course, but he definitely remembered the jealousy and fighting that Jason would start. What Jason hadn’t known was that Dick saw the smile drop from his face, and he hadn’t known that Dick felt guilty for it.

 

“…Want a hockey mask?” _It looks like the closest we’ll find._

Jason frowned. “Not really.”

 

“Do you see anything?”

 

“I don’t know how the Owls dress, Dickie-bird.”

 

“Do you know what their masks look like?”

 

Jason shook his head. “Not really.”

 

Dick frowned, “…this is going to be a problem. They’re white masks with eyeholes, narrow like an Owl and larger at the top.”

 

“Okay, I got why you suggested a hockey mask then. Well, perhaps I can… can talk to Bruce. See if he can find anything similar.”

 

Dick immediately scowled. “How would he know?”

 

“I would tell him what it might look like, how else?” Jason scowled at Dick. “And will you… stop acting like a bitch every time I mention his name?”

 

Dick gave Jason an offended look. “I’m not!”

 

Jason glared, “Yes you are, and it’s pissing me off.”

 

Dick glared back at him, biting back words he knew he would probably regret later on. Jason appeared to be having the same thoughts, but his way of dealing with them was different if him stalking out of the store said so. It’s fine, Dick needed some space anyway. He was getting tired of Jason’s questioning and trying to force Dick to remember his old self. Nothing was working, and Jason had to stop treating Dick like Dick was before. It was becoming obvious to Dick that nothing would work at all.

 

Jason took a few deep breaths as he made his way from the store, unaware of the figure lurking in the shadow behind him that couldn’t believe its luck. It followed him until there were no bystanders and tackled him from behind, causing Jason’s face to hit the cement and scratch his cheek. He didn’t even think, all he knew was that this was an attack and he had to turn the tables around. He wrapped his legs around the figure’s neck and rolled them over, surprised to see one of Ra’s assassins. “Just what I needed on top of everything.”

 

The assassin pulled out a dagger and jammed it into Jason’s leg, causing the younger man to let out a scream of pain and elbowed him in the face, pulling the dagger out of his thigh with a grunt. “Motherfucker.”

 

The assassin was cursing at him in Arabic, some of the words he understood, while others he didn’t. None of them were very complimentary, and they were stuffy due to the blood dripping down the assassins nose. Jason slashed at his face and the assassin let out a hiss of pain, managing to shove Jason off of him and take the dagger.

  
“Umf,” Jason rolled with the push and bounced to his feet, pulling out his gun. Suddenly a hand closed down on the top of his gun and lowered it, and the only reason Jason didn’t attack this new person was because he recognized it as Dick. Dick lunged at the assassin, all grace and fluidity. He pulled a blade out of his boot and slashed the assassin in the neck with it. Blood squirted from the assassins jugular, but it didn’t seem to bother Dick. He turned to look at Jason, his expression more alive then it had ever been since Jason re-met him. “A gun would draw attention. This was much easier… and more fun.”

 

Jason rolled his eyes, although he was pretty impressed. “Showoff.”

 

Dick ignored him. “We need to get rid of the body.”

 

“Yeah but how? In case you didn’t notice we’re out in the fucking open.”

 

Dick looked thoughtful for a moment before setting his face, coming to a decision. “We can act like he isn’t dead. Pick him up and put his arms around us so it looks like he’s drunk and we’re just helping him home.”

 

“Which would work if there wasn’t so much blood…” Jason sighed. “Whatever, it’s the only idea we have now.”

 

Jason went to pull him up and Dick helped. “We aren’t in the best part of Gotham. My guess is that people won’t ask questions.”

 

Jason sighed, “Okay, where should we bury him?”

 

“The abandoned park?” Dick suggested.

 

Jason looked around to make sure nobody was watching before nodding. “Alright, sure.”

 

“Well where else would we bury him?” It sounded a bit defensive.

 

“No, no the abandoned park is fine. Just make sure we hurry, I don’t want people to call the cops on us.” _The last thing I need is more complications. I can handle the police, but I’d rather stay under the radar for now._

Dick snorted. “As if a cop could stop us,” he didn’t make any more comments though until they got to the abandoned park.

 

“We could use shovels…”

 

Dick looked at Jason. “Do you know where any are?”

 

“…No,” Jason bit his lip thoughtfully. “Or we could just buy a couple?”

 

“Okay,” Dick dumped the body on the ground, making sure that it was out of sight.

The victory was short-lived when a random old lady walking her dog stopped and stared in shock. “What do you two think you’re doing?”

 

Dick didn’t even flinch. “Playing a prank on our younger brother. We’re waiting for him to find our friend that’s playing dead.”

 

Jason nodded, a bit surprised at the quick thinking. The old lady frowned and looked at the dead assassin. “…He really does look dead.”

 

“He’s a good actor.”

 

“Anyway,” Jason grabbed her gently by the arms to guide her away. “You should go or else our brother won’t be fooled by the prank.”

 

She gave them one last suspicious look before leaving, pulling the growling dog along with her.

 

“…She’s gonna call the cops on us.”

 

“No she won’t,” Dick said, as though _he_ knew everything about Gotham.

 

“Yes, she will. Now… shovels?”

 

“Go buy some shovels and I’ll stay here,” Dick replied. Jason frowned, he didn’t really want to get attacked by assassins again, but they couldn’t just leave the dead body here. He turned to leave without a word, but paused when Dick tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a knife. “For me?” _Dumb question, Todd._

“No,” Dick said flatly. “For the person standing next to you that’s on an assassins hit list.”

 

Jason felt his lip twitch as he accepted the knife. “Thanks.”

 

Dick didn’t say anything in return, he just went back to stand guard over the dead body.


	8. Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason talk about trust

It wasn’t too long before Jason returned to Dick with the shovels. “We should wait until it gets dark.”

 

Dick nodded his head and crossed his arms as though he was preparing to wait there all night like that. Jason took off a piece of his shirt and tied it around his leg, leaning against a tree. “Fucking assassins.”

 

“Language,” said Dick vaguely.

 

Jason snorted, “What’s so disturbing about cursing?”

 

“Why do you curse? The Court doesn’t allow cursing.”

 

Jason smirked, “Even better then. It’s a way of expressing yourself.”

 

“No,” Dick frowned. “It’s barbaric.”

 

Jason chuckled, “Seriously? Don’t be overdramatic.”

 

Dick narrowed his eyes, and again Jason had to remind himself that this was a deadly assassin. “I am not being overdramatic!”

 

Suddenly Jason had an idea. A stupid one, but then again all of his ideas were stupid lately, so he decided to go for it. He took a few steps towards Dick and leaned against him.

 

As anticipated, Dick froze and stepped away from him.

 

“Something wrong?” Jason wanted to test this Dick, he wanted to see how different he was from the other Dick.

 

“That’s… uncomfortable,” Dick definitely looked it. “The Court doesn’t allow physical contact like that.”

 

“But you used to like that,” Jason said. “A lot.”

 

Dick bit his lip, not sure whether or not to believe Jason. He was trusting him more than when they first met, but he wasn’t used to these bombshells that Jason kept throwing on him.

 

“Sorry,” Jason apologized after a moment. “I suppose it’s just… difficult for me to know who you are these days.”

 

“It’s… okay…”

 

They were silent for longer before noticing the sun going down. Jason picked up his shovel and started to dig a hole in the ground big enough for the assassin. “Are you happy?” He asked suddenly.

 

Dick paused his shoveling. “Happy?”

 

“Yeah like… how you are now. The way the Court turned you. I know you can’t remember your past but…”

 

“No, I’m not… well, not fully. There are some things that I like.”

 

Jason found himself interested – or as interested as he could get while putting an assassin in the ground. “What would make you fully happy?”

 

“Happy…” Dick looked like he was saying the word for the first time. “I don’t know.” _It’s been a while._

Jason felt a bit bad for Dick. “…Killing people who deserve it always make me feel better when I’m having a shit day.”

 

Dick glanced at Jason and honestly smirked. “Is that an offer?”

 

Jason was starting to wonder if that was a bad suggestion. “…Depends on who you’re planning to kill.”

 

“Well, I still have a kill list memorized.” _Unless another Talon gets there first._

“Am I on it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Great… well, at least you’re being blunt about it. Come on, let’s go back to the warehouse.”

 

They looked around for a moment before starting to head back, looking at the first stars that appeared. There were probably only seven that showed in the sky due to the pollution from the stuffy air of Gotham City, but they still shone sometimes. As soon as they got in the warehouse Dick turned to Jason. “Can I wear my Talon outfit now?”

 

Jason grinned at him. “But you look a lot less creepy like this.”

 

Dick gave him a flat look. “That’s the point. Intimidation.”

 

Jason rolled his eyes, “Real badasses don’t need to be intimidating because people already know they’re a threat. But whatever, feel free to dress up if it makes you feel better.”

 

Dick glared at him, and it was obvious that he had a lot of choice words to say, but he was just barely holding them back. Hell, for all Jason knew he was just barely holding _himself_ back from attacking Jason. Jason watched as Dick stripped, this time not even bothering to look away. The scars were just as horrendous before, and Jason wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to seeing them on his gorgeous and toned body, but Dick didn’t seem to mind him getting an eyeful, so Jason wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. It’s not like he wasn’t hot because of the scars.

 

“So how much faster than a normal human is a Talon?”

 

Dick looked at him, putting his Talon jacket on. “You saw how fast I was.”

 

“Can you outrun a bullet?”

 

“No, unfortunately.”

 

“Hm… so using guns on a Talon would work. However, you fuckers keep healing so we’d have to find a more permanent spot to take them down.”

 

“… Yeah.”

 

Jason mentally sighed. “I don’t want to hurt you – I wouldn’t. In fact I kind of want to protect you. I know you don’t need it… but still.”

 

Dick looked like he was having trouble understanding this, but he’d better get it cause Jason wasn’t good with sappy and didn’t want to have to repeat it unless he had to. “How can I trust you? You could be lying.” he had averted his gaze, looking at the floor rather than at Jason.

 

Jason frowned, “You tell me what I can do to make you trust me then. But… there wouldn’t be any profit in me trying to trick you, Dick.”

 

“You could be using me to take down the Court,” Dick pointed out. “Then eliminate me.” He hesitated before saying his next words: “I’m… not good with trust.”

 

“No kidding. Well…” _I missed you while you were gone surprisingly._ “I don’t want to do that. It would make the rest of the batfamily hate me even more if I did something like that to the Golden Boy.”

 

Dick just gave him a confused look. “Golden Boy?”

 

Jason laughed. “It’s… what I called you behind your back. And sometimes to your face when I was angry,” he shrugged. “In short you were so damn good at everything and apparently everybody loved you.”

 

 _Loved? Me?_ “…Okay, say I do believe you. What’s in it for you?”

 

“Nothing really. Maybe I just missed my brother, but I guess that thought never crossed your mind.”

 

Dick felt his lip twitch upwards, “Your brother? You mean the one you were just checking out?”

 

 _Oh… shit._ “What do you mean?”

 

“When I was naked earlier,” Dick shrugged. “I saw you looking at me.”

 

Jason probably would have blushed if he was used to such things. “Well… at least you know I wasn’t lying when I said I still thought you looked good after they made you all pale with the blue veins.”

 

“I suppose you weren’t. I don’t know why you think that though.”

 

“I suppose you don’t own a mirror then?”

 

Dick raised an eyebrow. “I know how I look. I recall what I used to look like back when I was human. It was…” Dick tried thinking of a suitable word, but could only come up with one. “Different.”

 

“So you think you’re unattractive now?” Jason was a bit surprised, but decided to mock despair to cover it up. “Fuck, if you think you’re unattractive what hope is there for the rest of us?” He buried his face in his hands, “I will never look at myself ever again!”

 

Dick snorted, “You’re plenty attractive. You’re also human.”

 

Jason looked back up at him. “So are you. Just… undead… like me.”

 

Dick shrugged, “I don’t know what I am anymore.”

 

“Well… the rest of the family would be just delighted to have you back,” _unlike me I bet,_ “even Bruce, although he’s allergic to showing emotions except from brooding. Alfred would love to have you back, I suppose you don’t remember him either?”

 

Dick shook his head. “No, I don’t remember him.”

 

 _Good thing he’s not here to hear that._ “Oh… well, it’s not like it’s personal so.” Jason sat down on the couch and gave Dick a serious look. “Back to the bullets. If there was some way to shoot bullets that could do more harm that would be great. Perhaps like… really cold bullets or arrows?”

 

Dick was silent for a long moment. “…Shoot for the head. It’s the only thing that will keep us down permanently. And… freezing. Sometimes the Court will use that for punishment. That or a Talon blade.”

 

Jason took this all in and nodded, “Okay then… Do you know how to use a gun?”

 

“I do,” Dick scowled. “But I prefer using a blade.”

 

“Do you have anyone in the Court you care about? Friends perhaps?” It was a long shot, since Dick seemed like he was allergic to friendship, but Jason could be wrong.

 

Dick thought about William Cobb, his great grandfather. “I have family,” he said. “And some Talons are easier to talk to then others…. But no, not really.”

 

Jason frowned, feeling a bit angry because him and Bruce and Alfred were Dick’s family. _“Family?_ What do you mean family?”

 

“My great grandfather is one of their prized Talons.”

 

“Well do you want to help the- free them from the Court as well?”

 

“Not William Cobb – my great grandfather. I don’t know… perhaps Raymond.”

 

“…Perhaps?” _Some friend he is._

“Yes, perhaps.” Dick seemed annoyed. “I haven’t made up my mind about him yet.”

 

“… I’m hungry. Are you?”

 

Dick gave him a strange look. “We already ate today.”

 

“So what? I’m hungry again.” He got up and looked around, finding some snacks.

 

“…Really?”

 

“Mhm,” Jason took a few bites of the granola bar he’d found. “Aren’t you?”

 

Dick shook his head. “We normally eat once a day.”

 

Jason stared at him for a moment, his inner-Alfred coming out. “Once a day? What are you nuts? How are you going to fight if you just eat once a day?” Jason pushed some of his snacks over to Dick. “Eat.”

 

“We get by on eating once a day. We spend most time training anyway.” Dick glanced down at the food and handed it back to Jason, who tore into the food.

 

“…You’re nuts.”

 

Dick frowned, taking that literally. “No I’m not.”

 

Jason rolled his eyes and finished eating. “I’m gonna get a nap.”

 

“Okay then.”

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

“Clean my blades.”

 

“Okay have fun,” Jason hesitated before continuing, “Thanks for saving my ass today.”

 

“Mhm,” Dick pulled out his blades and started to clean and sharpen them, causing Jason to wince at the loud noise before leaving to the back room and collapsing on his bed. At first he thought he’d be too anxious to sleep, but a few minutes later unconsciousness proved him wrong and he dozed peacefully.


	9. Three Targets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason go hunting

Dick was pacing, anxious and waiting for Jason to get ready so they could go out and kill people already, but every time he checked in on Jason the younger man was sleeping like a baby.

 

_If he doesn’t wake up soon I’m going out myself._

He heard a stir from the other room, then a groggy voice. “Dickie-bird?”

 

 _Finally._ “Yes?”

 

Dick watched curiously as Jason patted the bed. “Let’s sleep together?”

 

To say Dick was surprised would be an understatement, but he managed to cover it up. “I don’t require sleep right now. I thought we were going to go out and kill people?”

 

Jason frowned at him, “I thought we would just lay here and snuggle.”

 

 _What has gotten into him?_ “…Snuggle?”

 

“Mhm,” he was half-asleep, and probably not even that aware of what he was saying. “You used to like that.”

 

“Oh…” something else previous-Dick did.

 

Jason’s lip twitched in what looked like it could be a smirk if he was fully awake. “I don’t bite.”

 

“Why would you bite me?”

 

“I dunno, a kink maybe?”

 

Dick stared at him, feeling a bit awkward.

 

Jason didn’t give a shit about awkward apparently and patted the bed again. “C’mon… or maybe you’re scared?” He was teasing, but it was also baiting.

 

“I’m not _scared_.” Dick said with a scowl.

 

“Yeah sure,” Jason rolled his eyes but got up, waking up slowly. “So… killing people?”

 

“Yes,” the irritation in his voice clued Jason in that Dick was still annoyed at being accused of being scared.

 

“I need to hear that killin’ list first though,” Jason warned Dick, and Dick rolled his eyes but listed off the names diligently. Three corrupt politicians. Randolph Black, Thomas Smith and Jackson Rhys.  

 

Jason looked like he was really thinking it through, although that might be because he was still a bit tired. “…Okay, I guess the world would be better off without them.”

 

“I know. Are you going to help me or do you have your own list for the night?”

 

“Do you need my help?”

 

“No of course not, but I’m not adverse to the idea of you coming with me.”

 

Jason smirked. “Okay, sounds good to me.”

 

Dick nodded, full Talon mode. “Follow me then,” he put on the Talon hood and headed out of the warehouse, glancing around before stealthily moving to the first politicians house since he memorized where the targets houses were. Jason meanwhile was grappling over the rooftops, finding it way more enjoyable then stalking on the ground. Dick glanced up at him, then one of the buildings with chipped bricks and climbs up it in a matter of seconds, jumping on the rooftop since he didn’t have a grapple.

 

“Need a lift?” Jason was pretty impressed, but he wanted to see if Dick remembered anything from using a grapple.

 

“I do- did this almost every night,” Dick hesitated for a moment before adding, “Thank you though.”

 

“But it’s fun to grapple. Plus, you’ll save some of your energy.”

 

Dick frowned, “What does it matter if it’s fun or not?”

 

Jason snorted, “Alright then, it was just an offer.”

 

Dick hesitated. “Have I ever used one of those ‘grapples’ before?”

 

Jason nodded, “Mhm. We all have.”

 

“Oh…” Dick tilted his head, mentally debating. “…Can I try it?”

 

“Sure,” Jason grinned, then hesitated. “Just… be sure to give it back to me. I can’t do those fancy ass moves that you can.”

 

Dick’s lips twitched slightly as he grappled away to another building, feeling something odd, like he’d done this a million times before even though to him this is the first time. He grappled for a bit longer, the feeling growing stronger and stronger before deciding that he had enough and landed next to Jason, handing him his grapple back.

 

Jason looked curious. “What was it like?”

 

“It was… enjoyable.”

 

Jason grinned, “So it does matter if it’s fun then.”

 

“I never said that.”

 

Jason rolled his eyes but grinned, following Dick’s lead to the mansion the politician lived in. Dick automatically slunk into one of the shadows, and Jason had to do a double glance to make sure he was actually there. He blended in so perfectly. They were a rooftop away but the light was on so it was easy to look into, at least it was easy for Dick. “He’s with a woman,” he informed Jason.

 

Jason frowned, “Should we come back later?” _I really don’t want to see… that._

Dick shot him a look, “Don’t be ridiculous. We might not get this chance again. Although…” he frowned, “I don’t think witnesses are good for us being ‘covert’.”

 

“Hmm… I distract the girl and you get the dude?” Jason grinned at Dick from behind his helmet, not that Dick could see it. Dick snorted, “I suppose.”

 

“Great!” Jason leaped over the rooftop and to the window, tapping on it. The woman pulled away from Randolph, hurriedly wiping her lips. Jason tapped a bit harder, “Hello~?”

 

He heard Randolph curse and open the window to yell at him, but Dick came literally out of _nowhere_ and flew through the window, kicking him in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Jason spotted his grapple in Dick’s hand and barely had the chance to register the thought that Dick took it from him when he wasn’t looking, which was very sloppy on Jason’s part. As soon as Randoph fell he screamed at the woman to run into the other room.

 

Jason sighed as she raced into the other room, locking the door behind her. _So much for fetching the girl…_ he glanced down in time to see Dick stab the politician in the throat. “Good job, although I’m annoyed I didn’t get to save the lady.”

 

Dick glanced up at him, lips twitching behind the hood. “Oh, sorry.”

 

“Hopefully I’ll get to do something like that with the next dude,” Jason said meaningfully, but he wasn’t sure if Dick understood or not.

 

“Mhm… I’ll let you have him if you want.”

 

“How very generous of you,” said Jason with a snort, then took his grapple back from Dick and grappled off to where Dick said the Thomas Smith was. “You know,” he said when they were almost there. “We make quite the team.”

 

Dick tilted his head. “I agree.”

 

Jason found himself smiling without meaning to as they landed in front of the house of the second politician. There were no lights on here, so Jason assumed he was asleep. Dick picked the lock on the window and climbed in, and for a moment Jason wondered why no alarms were going off until he saw a cord box, wires cut thanks to Dick’s blade.

 

Jason climbed in the window after him, but unlike Dick, accidentally landed on top of Thomas’s dog, which started to bark like mad. Jason hesitated. He might kill people, but this was just an _animal._ He couldn’t kill the dog.

 

Dick obviously didn’t have the same qualms as he went and nerve pinched the dog, causing it to go limp and fall silent. Not a second later Thomas came running down the stairs, gun in hand. He took one look at the scene and shot Dick in the thigh. “What did you do to my dog!? Who are you?!”

 

Jason watched in fascination and the bullet was spat back out and the wound closed up. Dick grit his teeth, it had obviously hurt but he seemed more annoyed then anything. Before Jason could do anything Dick lunged for the man, pinning him to the ground and pulling out his blade. “Thomas Smith, the Court of Owls has sentenced you to death.”

 

Jason grabbed his arm before he could slice open the good politician’s throat. “Dude! I thought you and they were passé!” Jason pushed Dick aside, giving him a glare before slitting open the Thomas’s throat himself. He made a face when blood squirted on him. “Gotta love the job.”

 

“Yes, definitely love it.”

 

Jason looked at Dick to see if he was joking, but he looked dead serious.

 

“…I’m severely creeped out.”

 

“What?” Dick tilted his head.

 

“I think you enjoy killing a bit too much.” Jason got up and wiped the blood off of his knife on his sleeve.

 

Dick just gave him a flat look. “Says the man who was complaining because I almost took his kill.”

 

Jason chuckled. “Touché. So, just one left.”

 

“Yes, he will be exterminated.”

 

Jason hesitated before taking Dick’s arm. “Dick, I… when we’re done with this I want to take you back to the others.” _I want to see them too. Surprisingly._

Dick’s smile faded. “…Oh.”

 

“Aw come on it won’t be that bad. Alfred will be overjoyed, he’s like your grandfather-“ Jason quickly cut himself off, remember that Dick had an _actual_ grandfather that was a psycho murderer.

 

“… Let’s just go kill this human.”

 

Jason wasn’t going to let it go though. “You’re lucky you have a family like that. They’re my family too I guess just… it’s different with you.” Jason wasn’t very surprised to hear the jealousy in his voice, it was almost like an old friend now.

 

Dick raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem very happy about that.”

 

“I’m not. Well, I used to be more upset over it but over time I got more used to the idea of being alone. But yeah… family is family.”

 

“But… why would they like _me_ and not you?”

 

Jason scoffed. “Because you’re easy to control.”

 

Dick shot him a glare and Jason went on the defensive. “What, it’s true!”

 

“Well, I don’t want to be with someone who will try to control me then, I just got out of that situation.”

 

“Oh,” Jason smirked. “Rebellious Dick. Me likey.”

 

Dick threw Jason an annoyed look.

 

“What? You’re awfully hard to charm.”

 

“No,” Dick replied, “you just aren’t very charming.”

 

Jason couldn’t help but to laugh. “Ouch, and here I thought charm was one of the things I was actually good at.”

 

Dick chuckled, “Sorry to crash your dreams,” he turned serious suddenly, “we should go.”

 

Jason nodded and glanced down at Thomas Smith’s before leaving with Dick for a twenty minute run to the next target’s house. Jason was slightly ashamed to say he was out of breath and had to stop for a minute breather while Dick just looked at him in pity. Once he recovered they turned to the house, Dick narrowing his eyes. “He’s the worst of the three. A rapist and drug addict. But he’s apparently been ‘reformed’.” Dick snorted to show just how much he believed _that._ “Yeah right.”

 

“What are we waiting for then?” If there was one thing Jason Todd really hated, it was rapists and people who dealt to kids.

 

“We can’t just go barging in, we have to be stealthy. As in forgetting doors even exist stealthy, a window is your new best friend.”

 

“Okay, should we go through the same window?” Jason had a vivid flash back of the dog and wondered if the nerve pinch wore off yet, feeling a bit bad that when it woke up the first thing it would see was its dead owner.

 

“No,” Dick was looking at the house intently. “The light is on in the third story. I say that’s where we should go in at. He won’t have time to call his guards or anyone.”

 

“Okay… after you then princess.”

 

Dick didn’t bother to shoot him a glare, but started to climb up the building quickly, peeking in through the window. The third politician was watching TV while drinking a beer, so Dick silently slunk in the room, Jason right after him. Just before Dick could fully straighten Jason had his gun aimed at Jackson Rhys’s head before Dick could stay his stupid lines.

 

The politician hadn’t noticed Dick yet, but he was all too aware of the gun trained on him. “What the -? Who are you?”   
  
Dick opened his mouth, preparing to give his speech, but Jason cut him off. “We’re here to –“ he trailed off suddenly, noticing a little girl sleeping on his lap. Dick cleared his throat to get their attention. “The Court of Owls has sentenced you to death.”

 

It was at that moment the little girl woke up, then her eyes widened and she started screaming at the sight of Dick. Not that Jason could blame her, he looked like something out of a nightmare. At the sound of the screams a woman raced inside. It was difficult to make out her features, but she had a lithe body and short dark hair. She took one look at them before turning out the lights, grabbing the little girl and Jackson by the arm, racing into the other room with them. Dick sighed and started to chase after them, but the woman slammed the door in his face and locked it. Dick simply kicked it open, it was a mild annoyance but he was also a bit surprised, especially when he came face to face with a revolver from the woman. By the looks of it, she obviously knew how to handle it well. Jackson and the little girl were gone. Before Dick could react she started to shoot at him, jumping behind the counter to protect herself in case Dick was carrying any knives or guns.

 

Dick threw himself to the floor, hissing in pain. Jason came in not a moment later, eyes finding Dick’s figure immediately. “Dick!” He dodged bullets, racing over and crouching next to Dick to see how bad the injury was. He felt the full weight of the woman on top of him a second later, and he slammed her into one of the cabinets to get her off of him.

 

“I’m fine,” Dick could feel the bullets pushing themselves out of his body. “Take care of her, I’ll go after the politician and his daughter.” Quicker then Jason could blink, Dick was gone.

 

The woman’s eyes widened. “What the –“ _He was hit!_ She shot him in the back a few times when he turned until Jason elbowed her in the stomach. Dick hit the ground again, letting out a growl of frustration and got back up, stalking over to Jason and the woman. He kicked the gun out of her hand and grabbed a hold of her wrist tightly. “That hurt. Don’t do it again.”

 

Jason tensed, “Dick –“

 

Before he could say anything else the woman kicked out her legs, knocking Dick down to the ground. Jason hurriedly grabbed her arms, wincing at a blow he had received. “Stupid son of a…”

 

Dick had other intentions though. He elbowed her in the gut and punched her in the chest before getting up behind her and wrapping an arm around her neck. Her short hair brushed against his cheek as he whispered into her ear. “I can easily kill you like this, but I’ll give you a chance to live. Where did Jackson Rhys go?”

 

The woman hesitated, so Dick continued on. “I don’t care about your daughter, I’ll let her live if you just tell me where they went. If not… well… us assassins have to do some pretty bad things.” Dick wouldn’t actually kill the little girl, but it’s not like this woman needed to know that.

 

“How do I know you won’t hurt the girl?” The woman slid a hand down Dick’s body. To anybody that hadn’t been trained to notice this as a distraction would have just assumed she was in it for sexual purposes. Dick, however, had been trained, and he gripped her wrist tightly before it could reach into his pockets. “You don’t, but it’s the best chance you have. Your little girl will die even if I’m not lying, we have backup with us.” It was a lie, but Dick made sure to put the right amount of conviction in his tone. “But I can protect her.”

 

The woman struggled, kicking him in the knee to try and get free. Dick just tightened his grip on her, ignoring the kick.

 

Jason could tell this was getting them nowhere. “Hey, look lady. Your daughter-“

 

“She’s not my daughter!” the woman hissed, taking them both aback.

 

“Okay… that girl, she’s off with a rapist. Don’t you wanna protect her?”

 

The woman averted her gaze. “He’s done mistakes. So what? Hasn’t everyone?”

 

Jason darkened. “You call raping someone a ‘mistake’?”

 

She seemed to sense her mistake, but she wasn’t coming up with pathetic excuses like they usually do at this point. Instead she seemed almost conflicted.

 

 _“Well?”_ Dick applied a bit more pressure as though to remind them that he was still here. “Answer him.”

 

“… You broke into my home and tried to kill me. I can’t help you.”

 

“Exactly, we broke into your home and tried to kill you. If you don’t talk… well… it shouldn’t be that hard to _actually_ kill you, right?”

 

Jason shot him a glare and Dick shot him one back. He wasn’t playing around. The scary thing was that Jason wasn’t sure if Dick would actually kill her or if he was just playing off fear.

 

The woman stiffened, all trace of emotion gone from her face. “Fine, go ahead.”

 

Dick obviously hadn’t been expecting that, but gave Jason an annoyed look that Jason recognized from countless times as a kid. It was his _put on a show_ look. Still, Jason was unsure how far Dick’s ‘shows’ would go nowadays.

 

Dick flicked out a blade and pressed it against her neck. “Are you _sure_ about that? You do realize the man you’re protecting is a rapist with a little girl with him.”

 

Jason aimed his gun at her chest, face masked perfectly. He didn’t kill innocent people, but Dick did, and it was obvious to her that Dick appeared to be the one in command. Even if that was a lie, they were more on equal bitching grounds. The woman watched him with a steady expression before leaning back against Dick and jumping up, kicking Jason in the groin. Jason stumbled back into the counters, accidentally firing a shot and breaking one of the windows. The woman used the arm that Dick had let go of to punch him in the face, pushing him away from her.

 

Dick cursed – which Jason thought was totally unfair – and tackled her, pinning her underneath him this time by straddling her chest and digging his knees into her elbows. The woman was obviously some sort of contortionist or something because she managed to wrap her legs around Dick’s neck and tighten them, strangling him.

 

Dick uselessly tried prying her legs off and gave up eventually. “Didn’t… want to… do this…” He pulled a knife from his pocket and jammed it into her thigh. The woman screamed and let her legs drop, instead she tried getting the knife away but her arms were useless with Dick pinning down her elbows.

 

“Dick… they’re probably already gone. There’s no point in fighting her.” Showy definitely, the scene could have gone a lot worse though. For example the woman could be dead. Dick shot him an annoyed glare, and Jason realized his mistake of letting Dick’s name slip. He could also see the need to restore the lost dignity from the woman ultimately beating him, but Jason was starting to get irritated as well. “So… are we leaving or are you just going to straddle her all night?”

 

Dick narrowed his eyes at Jason and got off the woman, stalking over to Jason. Half of Jason thought Dick was going to attack him instead, and he _barely_ held himself from taking a few good steps back. The woman got up shakily, letting out a small cry pulling the knife out and quickly grabbed the gun, but she didn’t shoot it. Not yet at least.

 

Dick spoke in a low voice to Jason so that the woman wouldn’t overhear. “We’re going to keep an eye on this place. We don’t know when they’re going to return, or if she’s going to contact them again.” _If I didn’t think she would contact them, then she would be dead. She’s still useful, it’s the only reason she’s alive._

Jason nodded. “Alright,” he shot one last look at Dick before grappling out of the window, still hurting from the kicking. Dick, however, was completely healed, and had no trouble showing off on the way back to the warehouse. Jason groaned when they got inside, “Don’t think I’ll be having kids anytime soon. Who _was_ that chick?”

 

Dick tilted his head, ignoring the question. “Do you want kids?”

 

Jason actually gave it a serious thought, thinking about his own homelife. “Maybe.” His mind flashed to Bruce, then his death. “Or maybe not. I don’t know. Do you?”

 

Dick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I meant anytime soon.”

 

“Anytime soon? Ehm… no. Maybe some day in the future when I’m not a kickass anti-hero anymore. But as long as I’m doing this, there aint gonna be any kids running around here.”

 

“Mm.” Dick was silent for a moment before speaking again. “I’m feeling… I’m feeling frustrated.”

 

“Hey, we did good,” Jason collapsed on his bed, Dick following him into the room. “We took out 2/3 today.”

 

“Good?” Dick looked slightly horrified. “If we were with the Court right now, we’d be punished terribly.”

 

“But you’re not with the fuckin’ Court, are you?”

 

“No… but that doesn’t make the sense of failure go away.”

 

“So? We catch him tomorrow.”

 

Dick looked determined. “We’d better. It should have been done earlier.”

 

“What’s the rush?” Jason asked, annoyed. “It’s not like you’re not immortal and can’t take down baddies for eternity.”

 

“There’s so many things that can go wrong!” Dick exclaimed. “What if the Court finds them first? They’d kill the little girl to make a point.”

 

Jason frowned, a bit troubled. “I thought they didn’t hurt the innocent.” _They only send out their lapdogs to do it._

 

“If the person gets in their way they do.”

 

“Fine,” Jason sighed. “We get him first thing in the morning. Hope you’re satisfied.”

 

“I would be satisfied if we killed him earlier.”

 

“Whatever, go get him yourself then. I have a date with my bed.”

 

“We don’t know where he is!”

 

Jason buried his head under the pillow, trying to block out the sound of Dick’s bitching.

 

Dick shifted for a moment before coming to a decision. “Fine, I’m going back out. Maybe she’ll try contacting them.”

 

“Lock the window behind you,” Jason said sleepily.

 

“What makes you think I won’t go through the front door?”

 

Jason grinned slightly. “I just figured that wasn’t your style.”

 

Dick smiled slightly before putting on the Talon hood, leaving through the window and making a show of locking it behind him. Jason snorted and tried not to feel worried about him. He knew that Dick could take care of himself, but he didn’t want to lose him again. Dick had been talking about failure… well, he would be Jason’s failure if the Court got to Dick again.

 

 

 


	10. Seeing the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick takes care of some unfinished business, and Jason takes it upon himself to re-introduce Dick to their family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made this chapter extra long because I felt bad about not updating sooner so... enjoy :D

Dick approached the house carefully, the first thought coming to his mind was that it looked _dead._ No lights were on, and it looked like it had been abandoned. Muffled footsteps from his enhanced hearing assured him that at least one person was inside however, and he moved closer to get a better look. The woman was speaking into a phone, packing up bags. Dick slid into the window in the next room so that he could hear better.

 

“Mhm,” the woman was saying. “…Yeah sure. Be sure to look out for each other and I’ll be there as quick as I can.” Without another word the woman hung up, heading out of the house. Dick kept a safe distance behind her so that she wouldn’t notice him. It’s not like he couldn’t catch up to her within a few seconds if the time called for it. The woman was getting into her car, and Dick practically flew over, rolling underneath of the car and grabbing the pipes, lifting himself up from the gravel. The woman was obviously in a hurry if her mad driving was any clue, occasional bumps almost dislodging Dick, but he tightened his grip and waited out the ride, feeling wind whip his hair back from the speed she was driving. When she finally stopped the car jerked so suddenly Dick almost lost his grip. He stayed completely still as the woman got out of the car, turning her head around to make sure nobody was close before heading into a dark alleyway. Once she was out of sight Dick dropped, rolling out from under the car and rubbing his fingers until the stiffness went away. The pain only lasted a few seconds and once it was gone Dick threw himself against the wall, peeking around it to search for her.

 

She was a small figure in the distance by now, and Dick silently followed after her, making sure to time his footsteps with hers. Wherever she was going it was becoming misty and the concrete had turned into dirt. Dick wasn’t complaining though, he liked the warmth, although he had to dodge mud piles because the last thing he needed was for her to hear his footsteps squishing in mud. Dick continued his stalking until an abandoned boat appeared, and he crouched down in a shadow as she stepped onto the boat. It took a few seconds but Jackson Rhys and his daughter came into sight, both of them giving the woman a hug. Dick didn’t move a muscle, instead he waited for their little ‘reunion’ party to be over; it didn’t take long afterwards for the three of them to fall asleep, the little girl curled up in the woman’s arms.

 

Dick waited another half an hour, not even twitching, before climbing silently on the boat, stepping lightly to make sure that he wouldn’t wake any of them up. He observed the three of them for a moment before stabbing Jackson in the neck, silently apologizing to the little girl for having to grow up without a father, but he assumed that the woman would take care of her. He quickly jumped off of the boat and ran as fast as he could before the scent of blood could wake up the others. It only took a few seconds for him to reach the car, which he hotwired and drove back to Gotham. He wasn’t stupid enough to drive back to the warehouse, instead he ditched the car as soon as he got into Gotham. He wandered around for a bit before heading back to where he and Jason were staying, climbing in the window after picking it.

 

Jason looked tired, and Dick had the feeling that he hadn’t fallen asleep in the time that he’d been gone. Dick ignored him for the time being and slipped out of his Talon costume into something more comfortable. “He’s dead.”

 

“Oh. Are you okay?”

 

“Mhm.”

 

Jason sat down on the bed. “So, wanna go meet the rest of the family tomorrow?”

 

Dick froze. “…Tomorrow? Isn’t that – I mean – kind of early?”

 

Jason just managed to hide a smile. “Dick, are you scared they won’t like you? Or just not interested in having a relationship with them?”

 

“I’m not _scared,”_ Dick said immediately, then shifted. “… Both I suppose.”

 

“Well, if you don’t try it out you’ll never know. What do you have to lose anyway? Hell, I’m kind of… nervous… about re-meeting them myself.” Jason sighed before patting on the bed. “C’mere.”

 

Dick stared at the spot Jason patted distrustfully, as though it was going to bite him, but eventually sat down, feeling uncomfortable. “So far what you’ve told me about myself is that I used to be a good person, and nice. But I’m _not._ Not this version of me. I’m a killer, and I won’t be the same person to them either.”

 

“…Maybe they’ll like this version of you better.” _Doubt it though._

Dick gave him a look that was pure bullshit and Jason sighed. “Well, I like you like this.”

 

“But you’d rather have the other me back.”

 

Jason was silent for a moment, mulling this over. “Maybe not. Or well… yeah I would. But it wouldn’t be for me, it would be for the people that actually… cared about you.”

 

“So you don’t care about me?” Dick wasn’t sure whether he should be relieved or offended.

 

“I do but… not the way they did. Nevermind,” Jason looked at Dick’s clothing. “You changed from that creepy outfit into something decent so I’m going to assume you’re going to get some sleep?”

 

“I suppose I should.”

 

Jason gave him a small smile, “Okay, goodnight Dick.”

 

Dick didn’t answer, he just got out of bed and started to walk over to the couch.

 

“You know,” Jason said suddenly, stopping Dick in his tracks. “The bed is a lot more comfortable.”

 

Jason had been hoping that some meaning would have gotten into his voice, but Dick just blinked at him. “Okay…”

 

Jason rolled his eyes – _forget it_ – and turned over, closing his eyes and trying to get some sleep. Dick watched him for a moment, still a bit confused as to why Jason felt the need to tell him that a bed was more comfortable then a couch before sighing and setting up the blankets on the couch. _He can be really weird sometimes._

He laid down on the couch and closed his eyes, the release of stress allowing him easy access to sleep.

 

…

 

Jason woke somewhere around midday, feeling a bit fuzzy headed but other then that generally okay. Besides the aches and the empty feeling of hunger. He got out of bed and headed into the other room, looking over at Dick who was studying the back of a cereal box. “The old you couldn’t cook, so I’m assuming the new you doesn’t either.”

 

Dick glanced up at him. “We do not cook in the Court.”

 

Jason nodded, “Alright well we’ll have to get some take-out.” No way was he getting any delivery.

 

Dick frowned “Take out?”

 

“Yeah like… you know… when you get take out food?”

 

Dick was giving him a blank look so Jason rolled his eyes. “Just let me throw something on real quick,” he gave Dick’s body a good once-over to make sure that he was dressed acceptably before going through a drawer, pulling out a few menus and throwing them at Dick. “What looks best to you?”

 

Dick looked them over. “I… I don’t know.”

 

Jason rolled his eyes and snatched the menus back, deciding to just go the quick way and get Subway. “Come on, get up,” he said, putting on his coat and Dick stretched before standing up. “Where are we going?”

 

“Subway. They’ve got hoagies and sandwiches there and stuff.”

 

“Oh… okay.” He sounded uncertain, but that was better then having no clue at all. Jason headed out, Dick close behind him and they kept a wary eye on their surroundings as they made their way through Gotham’s streets and to the run-down, trashy Subway store. It had just been built last year, but already Gotham’s stink had gotten to it. The person working there seemed depressed, and Jason could hardly blame her. He ordered a Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt for himself, lips twitching at the barely hidden horrified look on Dick’s face. He figured he’d be nicer to Dick and got him Italian bread with tuna and lettuce. 

 

They decided to head home with their food rather than eat it there. They may have lived in a warehouse, but that Subway store was depressing as Hell and somehow worse then being alone in a dingy warehouse. Jason handed Dick his sandwich when they sat down. “Here, try it.”

 

Dick stared at the hoagie like it was planning on coming to life and attacking him, but eventually he took a bite out of it. He looked pleasantly surprised, and Jason figured he made the right call. “It’s good.”

 

Jason smirked. “Told ya. You really should stop being so paranoid around me.”

 

Dick froze for a minute but didn’t answer, instead taking another bite of the sandwich.

 

Jason sighed. “So what now? Seems like the Court aint coming after you after all.”

 

“I thought the point was to take _down_ the Court?”

 

Jason scratched some stubble on his chin. “About that… I don’t know if we can do this by ourselves. We may need Batman’s help.”

 

Dick obviously didn’t like the idea judging by the look on his face. “But… Fine. I suppose.”

 

“Okay… let’s get ready to meet them.” _This is going to be fun._ “You need to wear normal clothes. And don’t talk about how much you enjoy killing people. Or try to praise the fucking Court. Just… try and act normal, like talk about the weather or something.”

 

Dick frowned. “The weather?”

 

“Yep,” Jason tried to clamp down his nervousness as he picked up the phone and called Bruce (and no, his fingers were most definitely _not_ shaking). He almost forgot how to speak when he heard Bruce’s voice on the line. _“Hello?”_

So many feelings rose in Jason at that moment. Rage, anger, sadness, emptiness, and he couldn’t stop that damn feeling of _I missed you._

 

“Bruce…”

 

_“Who is this?”_

 

“It’s… it’s me. It’s Jason,” Jason clarified, pretending that his voice hadn’t just cut off at first. _Christ it’s just Bruce, get a grip on yourself._

There was a silence on Bruce’s end. Jason was pretty sure that Bruce knew who the Red Hood was by now, which was probably the only reason why he hadn’t hung the phone on. “Please… listen to me. I need to ask you a favor, plus I’m bringing over a gift.”

 

 _“…I’m listening,”_ his voice was cold and gruff, and Jason mentally winced. He wasn’t talking to Bruce anymore, he was talking to Batman.

 

“I need you to help me take down the Court of Owls,” Jason said in a rush.

 

_“… Is this a joke?”_

 

Jason couldn’t help but to snort. “I wish I could say yes. It’s fine if you’re too chicken,” he added snidely, unable to help himself, “I’ll just go after them myself then. Now. To the gift,” Jason said when Bruce was silent. “I’m bringing it over but I don’t want you to freak out or just stand there all awkwardly without talking, okay?”

 

“ _What is this?”_

Jason glanced up at his Talon. “I found Dick. Dick Grayson,” he didn’t know why he felt the need to add his last name. It’s not like there were any other ‘Dicks’ around. “But… he’s not… he’s changed. So, be prepared for that, okay?”

 

Bruce was completely silent, and Jason might have thought Bruce hung up on him if he didn’t know him well enough. “Now now now,” he said in an annoying tone, “what did I tell you about the awkward silence thing?”

 

Bruce still didn’t talk, but Jason could faintly hear his breathing. “Just make sure to be yourself. Actually, be your happiest self so he doesn’t think you’re mad at him, ‘kay? The guy’s quite nervous enough to see you and Alfred again.”

 

Jason could practically feel the tension coming through the phone. Jason did drop quite the bombshell on him – multiple actually – so he figured he’d cut him some slack.

 

_“…Tell me everything.”_

“Na-ah. Later, or else we’d have nothing to talk about when I get there,” _besides the fact that I’m Red Hood and came back from the dead, but that’s more of an argument then talking…_ “and there will definitely be awkward silence then. See ya in a bit,” Jason felt relieved when he hung up the phone, like he just managed to dodge landmines. Actually, Jason was more surprised that Bruce hadn’t demanded more answers. Jason glanced up at Dick. “Come on, let’s leave.”

 

Dick was looking paler then normal. “…Are you sure this is a good idea, Jason?”

 

Jason smiled, although he was internally thinking _nope, not at all._ “Hey, you wanna be free of the Court don’t you? And if the thing with Bruce goes to Hell you can join me, the outcast of the party,” he shrugged. “I know it’s not much but we could be teammates or something. You’re not that bad you know, when you’re not praising the fucking Court or bashing at my foul language.”

 

Dick looked like he wasn’t sure if he should be insulted or not, and averted his eyes. “Fine.”

 

Jason let out a long sigh. “You don’t have to you know. We can go after the Court ourselves. But one way or another, we _are_ going after them.”

 

“Of course we are,” Dick said immediately. “But… you already called him,” his voice was slightly frustrated.

 

Jason could feel a headache coming on. “So what’s it going to be then?” he asked wearily.

 

Dick seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before speaking. “I… I suppose it wouldn’t kill me to ally myself with Batman.”

 

 _I’m not sure if I should be relieved or not._ Jason gave a sharp nod. “Alright then, let’s go.”

 

…

 

Jason hesitated when they reached the manor, half on him just wanting to stay put and never knock on the door, although it was ridiculous. _Just knock._ He glanced over at Dick. “Any memories returning?”

 

Dick looked around, yellow eyes sharp and alert. “…It seems familiar.”

 

 _At least we’re getting somewhere. Maybe… maybe this is a good thing._ Jason somehow managed to bring himself to knock on the door, wondering if Bruce told Alfred that he was coming.

 

Jason had been expecting to see an elderly man open the door, so he was very surprised to see a teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes to be standing there. He seemed just as stumped as they did, but turned around at the sound of Bruce’s voice. _“_ Tim.”

 

_Tim. The replacement. How the hell could I have forgotten that?_

Jason narrowed his eyes at _Tim,_ who looked between them before going into the other room, which was probably wise.

 

Bruce glanced at him, then his eyes went straight to Dick, and they widened for a millisecond. Most people wouldn’t have caught it, but Jason did. Bruce seemed torn over which person he should stare at the longest, and Dick wasn’t helping matters as he was staring straight back at Bruce.

 

“…Bruce,” Jason cleared his throat, and Bruce turned to him. “This is Dick, the Talon. Dick, meet Bruce, our guardian.” Jason turned to Bruce, not sure how he felt about seeing Bruce after all of this. But his biggest concern was about Dick, and he was willing to put aside his hatred for Bruce if it meant making things easier for Dick. “He has amnesia or something, so he doesn’t remember us.”

 

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Dick before turning back to Jason. “Could I speak with you for a moment? In private?”

 

“Okay, where?” Jason asked, just as Alfred came around the corner. He saw the old man’s eyes widen in shock, but he quickly collected himself. Now Jason knew where Bruce got it from.

 

“The study will do fine,” Bruce turned back towards Dick. “Alfred will… show you around.”

 

Part of Jason was surprised that Bruce would leave Dick and Alfred alone together, but Alfred wasn’t a helpless old man, no matter what his appearance was. He could kick as much ass as they could. He could probably kick more ass then Replacement at the very least.

 

Alfred didn’t even blink as he was volunteered. “Very well, follow me sir,” he said, leaving Dick to trail after him after giving Jason a semi-worried look. Jason tried to give him a comforting one in return, but it was probably more of a grimace. He didn’t say a word as he followed Bruce into the study, he couldn’t even _think_ of words to say. Half of him wanted to throw punches when Bruce locked the door behind them, but he tried to calm himself down.

 

“I’ve got to say,” Jason finally managed to get out, giving a bitter smirk. “I’m surprised Goldie didn’t get any hugs or sobs from you, but I guess it makes me feel better that it’s not just me you’re coldhearted to when coming back from the dead.”

 

Bruce ignored him. “Tell me everything that happened, why does he look like that?”

 

“He’s a Talon, Bruce,” he finally said, trying to get past the irritation of Bruce ignoring him – nothing new there. Just more disappointment.

 

“How could we not have known?” Bruce asked through gritted teeth, and a part of Jason felt for him. Only a small part though.

 

“I don’t know… we have to find a way to change him back. We – I – am going to go after the Court. And demand answers. A solution. Because the way he is now… you wouldn’t like him.” _If you don’t like me, fuck knows what you’ll think of him._

Bruce gave him a studying look. “As a Talon.”

 

“No, not as a Talon. As a killer.”

 

Bruce let out a long sigh, pinching his nose. “Maybe… I’ll help you.”

 

“Thank you,” it was honest, but some of the anger he felt still managed to leak into his voice. “Anything else?”

 

“How do you know he wants to take down the Court?” Bruce asked without missing a beat.

 

“He’s tired of being controlled,” at least from what Jason had gathered. “I believe he’s being genuine about it all. He’s been with me for a couple days… I do trust him.”

 

“You barely trusted him before,” Bruce pointed out, and although his tone wasn’t accusing, Jason felt his hackles raise a few good inches. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

Bruce gave him a look, and Jason sighed. “Okay fine, true, whatever. But I trust that he hates being controlled and wants to break free. Anyway, are we doing this or not? Cause if you’re not going to trust him then I’ll go after them myself,” _somehow_ “I already told you that this is just an offer for you to come with us.”

 

Bruce was silent for a moment. “I don’t want the Court to succeed.”

 

“Great,” Jason said with lack of enthusiasm. “So, do you wanna get to know Dick 2.0 or am I just taking him home with me again?”

 

Bruce narrowed his eyes, “I’d like to talk to him.” Oh. It was his ‘this is a demand, not a request’ voice.

 

“Alone I would guess?”

“Of course.”

 

“So can I unlock the door?” Jason asked dryly, and Bruce nodded. “It was just a precaution.”

 

Jason snorted and unlocked the door, heading out of the room and looking around for Dick, wondering if he’d taken off already. Not that Jason would blame him.

 

He found Dick in the living room, and Dick’s eyes lit up at the sight of him, but that was probably only because he didn’t know anyone else but Jason in the manor.  “Bruce wants to talk to you.” He went over and fixed Dick’s outfit so that it looked perfect. “Remember what I told you?”

 

Dick smacked his hand out of the way in annoyance. “I am not a child that needs scolding to behave.”

 

Jason glared at him. _What I get for being helpful._ “Fine. Whatever.”

 

“Where does he want to see me?”

 

“Probably in his study… which you don’t know where that is,” Jason sighed and led Dick over to where the study was. “There. I’m going home now, so I guess that I’ll see you later.”   
  
Dick gave him such a hopeless _please don’t leave me here alone_ look that Jason sighed. “… Or I can just wait upstairs.”

 

Dick seemed a bit more thankful at that, although it was obvious he probably wanted Jason in there with him. Jason wasn’t invited, nor did he want to be around Bruce right now, so he just left to go upstairs, watching as Dick stepped into the study room, shutting the door behind him. _Good luck Dickie. I know you’ll probably need it._

 

 


	11. Talking and Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Dick have a talk, and Jason and Dick decide what to do.

Bruce wasted no time in his questioning. It was still unnerving to see Dick step through the door after all these years, his face so changed, but he had to keep reminding himself this wasn’t _his_ Dick. This was a Talon – the deadliest assassin in the world.

 

“You say you want to take down the Court,” he started, “how do I know you’re not double-crossing us?”

 

“You can’t,” Dick conceded. “And you have every right to be suspicious,” _I know I would,_ “but I do want to take down the Court.”

 

“Why?” Bruce countered immediately. “Do you have a plan to do it? Do you know how to infiltrate them?”

 

“I said I could go in as a Talon, but we weren’t sure which role Jason should play.”

 

Bruce was silent for a moment, thinking this over. “How many Talons would we need to go through to get to the Owls?”

 

“I wouldn’t say a hundred, but no less than fifty.”

 

“No less than fifty,” Bruce echoed, thinking it through before seeming to come to a decision. “Fine, we’ll help you. When can you do this? Tomorrow?”

 

Dick was hesitant with his answer. “I can try. It won’t be easy, they’ll be wondering where I’ve been this whole time.”

 

“Well,” Bruce said, hiding irritation, “you know how to lie, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, of course. But I’m not supposed to lie to them,” _I’ve been through enough ‘punishment’ for that._ “I won’t tell them of course, but it’s harder to lie to someone you know can torture you for it.”

 

“You’re a Talon,” Bruce said without any trace of emotion. “You’ll heal.”

 

Dick narrowed his eyes and spoke in a dry voice, “Your compassion astounds me.”

 

Bruce almost looked amused, but only for a split second and Dick figured he must have imagined it. “Nice to see your sarcasm is still in tact.”

 

Dick was silent for a moment, not sure what to say to that.  “…Yes. I’ll tell them Jason is dead, but I won’t mention you. The Court is not pleased with you.”

 

“Hadn’t expected that,” it was hard to tell if Bruce was being sarcastic or not. “So will you stay here or go with Jason?”

 

“I’m staying with Jason,” there was no hesitancy in his voice. Dick would choose Jason over these strangers any day.

 

Bruce nodded, “Be here tomorrow.”

 

“Tomorrow,” Dick agreed before leaving the study, glancing around before wandering off to look for Jason.

 

Unsurprisingly Dick ended up getting himself lost, but was rescued by Alfred, who informed him that Jason was outside. It was almost relieving to step out of the manor, and his eyes automatically glued to Jason. He was sitting on a bench, back turned to Dick. Deciding to have some fun, Dick snuck up behind him and watched him. He counted to 89 seconds before Jason realized he was there.

 

“How did it go?” he asked, turning to look at Dick. Dick could have sworn he heard something in his voice. _Is he… worried?_

“As well as can be expected,” Dick responded.

 

“Do you want to go back now, or stay?”

 

“I want to head back,” Dick stated. This manor was too much, he wasn’t sure he could handle it.

 

Jason didn’t say anything, he just nodded, although Dick got the sense that he seemed relieved.

 

…

 

“So, this is finally happening,” Jason said once they got inside the warehouse. “We’re taking down the Court. Are you excited?”

 

“If you are expecting me to be honest… I do not know what I am feeling right now.”

 

Jason raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound good. Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts?”

 

“No, I am not having second thoughts.”

 

“What is it then?” Jason thought about that other Talon Dick had mentioned. “Your friend or… whatever he is to you. Do you want him free as well?”

 

“It’s… not that…” Dick hesitated, and Jason could tell that this was really bothering him. “I… I believe that I feel nervous.” He looked disappointed with himself, and Jason figured that it must have been a Talon thing. After all, Talons aren’t supposed to feel emotions like that.

 

Still, Jason couldn’t help teasing him because he was an asshole. “Aaw. How adorable.”

 

Dick shot him a very heated glare. _If looks could kill…_ “Hey, it was a compliment,” _even though it totally wasn’t, but I don’t like him looking at me like he wants to kill me._

Dick huffed and stalked into the ‘living room’ area. Jason followed after him, “Hey, it’s okay to be nervous.”

 

Dick just plopped down on the couch, glaring up at Jason.

 

Although the glare clearly told him to back off, Jason decided to keep trying. He was making progress with Dick (if making progress meant Dick didn’t actually want to kill him anymore), and he didn’t want to screw it up. “I am too, and I bet that Bruce is too – he’s just good at concealing it.”

 

Dick was silent for a moment, thinking back to his discussion with Bruce. “He seems… closed off.”

 

“He is,” Jason agreed. “Then again, so are you.”

 

Dick tilted his head. “Point.”

 

Jason watched Dick for a moment before heading into the back room, collapsing on the bed and deciding to get some sleep – he had the feeling he’d need it. It was easier said then done however, after a few hours he woke up, and was unable to fall asleep again. After a few moments of tossing and turning, he decided it was pointless and got up, hovering at the edge of the back room so he could look into the space where Dick was. Dick was eating cereal (apparently, he had gone out while Jason slept and bought some milk) and although Jason should have been mad that Dick would risk himself like that, he was actually a bit relieved to see him eating the cereal like the old Dick would have.

 

“I can feel you watching me,” Dick eventually said. Jason shrugged, not really caring that he’d been called out and sat down next to the assassin. “Before we kill the Owls,” Jason started, slightly hesitant. “I want to ask them if they can somehow… give you your memories back.”

 

Dick was silent for a moment. “I do not know if there is a way but…” he shrugged, “you can try if you’d like.”

 

Jason sighed, “Great. Oh well, it’s better then nothing.”

 

Dick gave him a sharp look, although it was underlaced with curiosity and… something else. “Does this version of me truly bother you that much?”

 

“No but…” _Oh who am I kidding?_ “Yeah… yeah it does.”

 

Dick didn’t react visibly to that. “Why?”

 

“It’s complicated but… well, I miss the old you for some ungodly reason,” Jason tried, “you were… less of a douche.” He mentally winced. _Nice one Todd, call the dangerous assassin sitting next to you a douche. Smart._

Dick just stared at him, as though waiting for more of an explanation. Jason mentally groaned – he wasn’t exactly the sharing type. “I just… feel so damn much about you. And it sucks, I didn’t with the old you – not really, I just liked you for your looks pretty much – I actually pretty much hated you. I was… jealous I suppose. But that was it.”

 

Dick tilted his head. “… You’re confusing me.”

 

Jason couldn’t help but to scoff, feeling a familiar anger start to boil inside him. “You just don’t get it, do you? This… the new you, it’s all my fault. The Court captured _me,_ but then you had to be the damn hero and gave yourself up for me and here we are. I just… fuck… I hate this.”

 

Dick blinked. “Is that what happened?” He’d wondered how the Court had gotten to him of course, but he hadn’t expected himself to do anything ‘heroic’.

 

“Yeah… yeah it is.” Jason got up from the chair in favor of sitting down on the couch.

 

“I… I never really thought about why I was there,” Dick admitted, swiveling in his seat to face Jason. “I did at first but… I just got used to being there.”

 

“Well all we can do now is hope that the Court will be able to make you remember… but… if they don’t… what will you do when this is over? Will you continue to stay here?”

 

“I… hadn’t really thought about that.”

 

“Well do you want to?” Jason asked, and if any irritation leaked into his voice it was totally within his rights.

 

“Well I do not wish to go back to the manor – at least not right now.”

 

“Okay,” Jason shrugged, getting up and grabbing a beer from the mini fridge. He saw Dick make a face at the sight, and remembered the last time Dick had a beer he’d spilled it all over him. “We should get ready for tomorrow. Check out weapons. Get something to eat and rest.”

 

“We still need a plan,” Dick agreed. “One that will not blow up in our faces.”

 

“I’m fresh out,” Jason sighed.

 

“Infiltrate them from the inside?” Dick suggested. “Though I would need a couple of days for them to trust me.”

 

“A couple of days?” Jason echoed. “Do we have that much time?”

 

“If they don’t catch on then we have time. But if they do realize I’m double-crossing them then no.”

 

“Alright then,” Jason said flippantly, although he did mean it. “Just don’t get yourself killed.”

 

Dick snorted. “I’ll try not to.”

 

Jason was silent for a moment, staring at the beer in his hand, and Dick frowned. “Jason?”

 

Jason startled, as though he’d been asleep and Dick had woken him up. “Mhm?”

 

“You looked like you were zoning out for a moment.”

 

“I’m just… learning to accept the fact that I might die.” _Again._

“Yes, that is not something pleasant to think about.”

 

“I know,” Jason sighed, “but at least it’s better then being completely unprepared.”

 

Those words reminded Dick of something very crucial. “I will need a way to communicate with you when I’m in the Court.”

 

Jason headed over to the racks with all of his supplies, finding a comm link and handed it to him. “Here, but you should try to use it when you’re not around anyone else. It would look weird if you were talking to yourself.”

 

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Dick said, thinking about how many of the Talons – including himself – had talked to themselves. It’s how they dealt with the loneliness – being alienated for months could do that to you. “But you are correct. Better to be safe than dead.”

 

Jason raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. “Okay then… you do know how to use one, right?”

 

“I can figure it out,” a moment later Dick added reluctantly, “although it would probably be best if you showed me.” _I should know how to do this, I should be better than this._

Jason put the comm. in Dick’s ear before heading into the back room, putting the other comm. in his own ear before speaking. “Can you hear me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Just be sure to put it on and you’ll be fine.”

 

“As long as my hair covers my ear I should get away with it.”

 

Jason headed back to where Dick was, taking out the comms. “Well, now we have a plan.”

 

“Yes… let us just hope it does not backfire on us.”

 


	12. The Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick goes undercover. Jason and Bruce pay a little visit to the Court.

They hadn’t spoken much since last night, and the tension was high. Tonight was the night, they were going to take down the Court. Dick was staring out the window, the sun was almost completely gone, darkness taking over the sky of Gotham. He heard Jason approach him from behind, but didn’t say anything at first.

 

“I’m going to tell them I killed you.”

 

He could feel Jason’s eyes burning to the side of his face, he could sense the nervousness coming from him. “Okay sure, sounds like a good plan.”

 

“Just tell me if something changes,” Dick tapped at the comm. link in his ear. “And I’ll let you know what’s happening as well.”

 

Jason nodded slowly, “Okay.” _Be careful._ It was unvoiced, but there all the same.

 

“I should probably head there alone,” Dick said after a moment of silence. “There will probably be Talons on the lookout, we can’t afford to be seen together. Especially since you’re ‘dead’.”

 

“Yeah I know… just… if you need me I’m only a comm. message away so…”

 

Dick felt his lips twitch in a semi-smile. “I know. I suppose this is goodbye for now.”

 

Jason hesitated before nodding slowly, “Yeah… goodbye.”

 

Dick left the warehouse before things could get awkward, besides, he didn’t think he was good at goodbyes. But if everything went according to plan, he’d be with Jason again in a few days time. He made sure to keep to the shadows, darting past thugs and civilians alike, intent on making his way to the Court. Once he reached the sewers he hesitated, looking around to make sure nobody was close by before entering the sewers. It wasn’t that far of a walk to get to the wall with the door for the Court. He hesitated before pushing it open, almost blinded by the white light but my eyes quickly adjust to it.

 

Immediately Dick felt at least twenty pairs of eyes on him, some blank and some staring as though he’d suddenly come back from the dead or something. It was awkward and unnerving, but he met each of their gazes without a hint of emotion. “I need to speak with the Owls.”

 

As though they’d heard him, an Owl appeared directly in front of him. It took all Dick had not to take several steps back at the rigid stance from the Owl. “That took an _awfully_ long time to kill one man, Grayson.”

 

“I only just managed to kill him,” Dick lied smoothly. “He was ambushed by assassins and I was caught in the trap, that’s where I’ve been. The assassins are dead as well.”

 

“How many were there?” The Owl demanded.

 

Dick tried thinking of an appropriate number that could take him down. “There were fourteen, Master.”

 

“So, where is his body?” The Owl asked, staring hard at Dick.

 

“One of the assassins escaped. He took Todd’s body, no doubt the al-Ghuls have it by now.”

 

“Why would they take Todd’s body? Unless he was not completely dead.”

 

“Most likely Ra’s would want proof of his death,” Dick answered quickly. The Owl studied him for a moment longer before giving a sharp nod. “Well done, Grayson. You’re going to have to train harder before we let you out again however.”

 

Dick dipped his head. “I understand.”

 

“ _Really_ train, or else we’ll take you to the Chambers again, understood?”

 

Dick felt a shiver run down his spine at the mention of the Chambers – just a friendly way of saying the Torture Room basically. “I understand, Master.”

 

“Good,” without another word the Owl left. Dick could still feel stares on him and he whipped around, glaring. “Do you have something to say?”

 

He had seniority over the ones who had been staring, the ones that had seniority over him had all slunk away the moment the Owl appeared. Almost immediately the Talons looked elsewhere, not wanting to encounter Dick’s wrath. Dick watched them for a moment longer before heading off to the training area. _Might as well start right away._

…

 

It had been days with no word from Dick. Not that Jason was _worried_ or anything… he was just… annoyed that Dick hadn’t contacted him yet. He wanted to contact Dick a few times, to make sure he wasn’t screwing this up for all of them – that’s totally why – but he didn’t want to blow Dick’s cover.

 

Therefore Jason had left his comm. on 24 hours for the past few days. Even sleeping he kept the comm. in, and it was starting to hurt his ear, but an earache would be nothing compared to if Dick tried contacting him and Jason was asleep. He was currently pacing around the Batcave, annoying the bats and Bruce.

 

He almost thought he was imagining Dick’s voice when it came through the speaker in his ear, but the static assured him that he was totally not hearing things and he quickly spoke. “Dick?”

 

“The Court has settled down now that they think you are dead and there are no more assassins. They’re rarely this docile, we should probably use this chance to attack.”

 

“I agree. Batman and I will attack from the outside, and while the Talons are distracted with us you can take down the Owls right?”

 

“Yes, I can do that.”

 

“Alright then. Jason out.” He turned to look at Bruce, who was watching him with guarded eyes. “That’s our signal. Now, let’s go kill some super assassins who will most likely just hand our asses to us.”

 

Bruce gave him a look but quickly pulled on his Batman costume. Once he put the cowl on Jason addressed him again. “Batman, if we make it out of this alive, could you at least try to be nice to Dick?”

 

“We’ll see,” Batman replied in a gravelly voice. “Depends on if he’s actually loyal to us or not.”

 

“Yeah but… if he is… just don’t be a douche okay? He’s been through so much already and he needs… love I can’t give him.”

 

“Fine,” Batman said, which usually meant ‘I’m fine with my choice but I might not listen to you’. “Ask him where we’re going.”

 

Jason tapped the comm. again. “Dickiebird, which way should we take?”

 

“You know where Alan Wayne’s body was found?”

 

Jason turned to Batman, it seemed more likely something he’d know. “Alan Wayne – do you know where his body was found?”

 

Batman gave a sharp nod. “Yes.”

 

Jason returned back to the comm. call. “Yup.”

 

“It’s in the sewers located there. There are two ways in, the first way is through an Owl’s house – I’m not sure where it’s located however. The second way is a false wall in the sewer.”

 

“Okay, so sewer wall it is. Got it.”

 

“Be careful, Jason,” Dick said quickly before cutting their call. _I’m not the only one who needs it, Dick._

Jason glanced over at Batman before putting on his red helmet. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

 

Batman didn’t bother to reply, instead he just got in the Batmobile, waiting for Red Hood to enter as well before taking off to where he knew Alan Wayne’s body was found. _It was right there this entire time,_ he marveled. _After all that time searching, and it was right there._

“Do you really think he’s double-crossing us?” Red Hood asked suddenly, surprising Batman.

 

“I think it’s a possibility. Do you?”

 

“I don’t know… I don’t think so but… it was his idea to go undercover. Perhaps he’d planned this all along.” Red Hood sighed, “Or I’m just overthinking things. I hope I am.”

 

Batman tightened his grip on the steering wheel as they skidded to a halt in front of the sewers. “Yes, I hope you are too.”

 

Red Hood didn’t talk anymore until they reached the false wall Dick had told them about. He glanced over at Batman for a moment before finding the catch on the door. It was dark when he entered, but a few steps in and the alarms started to blare, the door locking closed behind the two vigilantes. Talons might see better in the dark then the light, but if they thought that would help they were dead wrong. Red Hood and Batman were both trained in the dark as well, plus with Red Hood’s helmet he could see as perfectly as though they were in direct sunlight. _Well, they know we’re here._

Red Hood didn’t bother with subtlety as he shot a Talon in the head. There were others in the back, and he spotted Dick. Dick gave him a long look as the other Talons all rushed forward to take down Batman and Red Hood. The vigilante lost sight of Dick and instead concentrated on blowing the heads off of Talons, Batman throwing sharpened batarangs into their eyes and never missing his mark. It worked, they went down and stayed down. By the time Red Hood had enough space to look around again, Dick was gone. He could only hope it was for the right reasons.

 

…

 

Dick stared straight into the mask of the Owl. The Owl appeared distressed, and Dick couldn’t blame him. “What’s happening?!” he demanded, and he was obviously torn between wanting to stay safe and wanting information from what was going on. Dick was his new source of information.

 

“An assassin tripped the alarms,” Dick informed him. “I was supposed to come in here to protect you.”

 

“What!?” The Owl sounded surprised, but quickly covered it up through anger. “In here? How? Who is this assassin?”

 

Dick took a few steps behind him, making sure to appear non-threatening. “I do not know.” He took a glance around, determining that they were alone before stabbing the Owl in the back. He was so intent on the kill that he completely missed sight of the other Owl that had appeared, which quickly left to go inform the others of the newest rogue Talon.

 

Dick wiped the blood off of his dagger on the Owl’s jacket before heading out to look for more Owls.

 

…

 

“Damn, these fuckers won’t stay down,” Red Hood growled, aiming for headshots but they kept ricocheting because the Talons had gained enough sense to cover their heads with their arms. One of them threw a dagger at him, and he barely dodged in time, although it did manage to slice his cheek. Batman spotted this and impaled the Talon in the head with one of his batarangs.

 

He couldn’t see the cheeky smirk Red Hood was wearing, but he could hear it in his voice. “Was that for me? How touching.” He was forced to dodge more blades. Batman simply grunted and threw more batarangs.

 

Red Hood threw himself to the ground as a blade flew straight where his stomach had been seconds ago. He got up, panting, “How many more?”

 

“I don’t know,” Batman growled. “They keep coming. What’s Dick doing?”

 

Red Hood automatically felt himself go on the defensive mode. “Have some faith in him!”

 

Batman gave him a quick batglare which had no effect on Red Hood. He tapped on the comm. link, signaling to his Talon. “Dickiebird, how’s it going? Batman can’t keep up with the Talons,” he smirked, then hissed in pain as a dagger went flying into his arm. “Motherfucker!” _Fucking karma._

“I just killed one Owl,” Dick informed him, “but I can’t find the rest.”

 

“Well keep looking, if you don’t find them soon come to us. We could use the help.”

 

“How does five minutes sound?”

 

“Perfect,” Jason ducked, narrowly avoiding getting his head chopped off from a sword. Batman let out a grunt of pain as a Talon shoved a dagger into his thigh, but it wasn’t enough to deter him. _Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea._

Dick meanwhile was still looking for the Owls, but failed to see the Talon come up behind him. “Grayson, what are you doing here?” It was Raymond. “Everyone is trying to fend off Batman and some… I don’t even know.”

 

Dick froze for a moment before coming back to his senses. “I was supposed to protect the Owls. You wouldn’t happen to know where they are, would you?”

 

Raymond was giving Dick a look. A look that said he knew Dick was bullshitting him. “No, but I heard the guy with the helmet say your name. Are you betraying the Court?”

 

“What? No of course not!”

 

“Mm. Good, well come back out with me then to stop Batman and that other vigilante.”

 

“…Okay.” _You’ve got to be joking. Just my luck._

…

 

_I have got to stop smoking._ “Batman, how’s it going?” Red Hood lost sight of Batman a while ago, which was pretty worrying.

 

All Red Hood heard was a grunt, and the sound of flesh against flesh. He knew that one of those Talons was getting a major beating. Another Talon came at him and Jason shot him in the head, then the one behind him, and the one behind him as well. Most of the Talons were down now, but life just loved to fuck with Jason, and his bullets ran out. “Aah fuck.”

 

A knife was flying straight towards his chest when he was knocked to the ground. He stared up at Dick, who had him pinned. _What the hell is he doing? He’s not… he’s on our side! Right?_

Dick pulled out two blades and Red Hood flinched on reflex, but Dick simply put the knives in his hands. _Oh._

Dick rolled off of him, putting his Talon hood on so he would be less recognizable before attacking the remaining Talons. Red Hood jumped up, narrowly avoiding being slashed in the stomach. From his spot Red Hood could see Dick stabbing a Talon over and over and over – a bit savage and messily executed. Dick must really not have liked that particular Talon.

 

Red Hood was so busy watching Dick he didn’t see the Talon in front of him until he felt the knife in his chest. Dick’s attention was caught by another Talon, but Red Hood could hear Batman’s voice just as he collapsed. “J- Red Hood!”

 

A part of Red Hood felt some joy that Batman had come to him rather than continuing to fight, even though it was probably a stupid decision on his part. Red Hood spotted Dick running in front of them, holding off the remaining Talons from reaching him and Batman. Batman pulled out a small med kit – just enough to keep him from dying – from his utility belt and started to get to work on Red Hood, throwing batarangs at some of the Talons but for the most part Dick was doing a nice job in holding them off.

 

“You should go home,” Batman told him in a low voice, and if Red Hood listened closely he could hear a strand of worry in the words. That more than anything was the only reason for his next words. “But…- okay.”

 

Batman looked relieved that Red Hood was actually listening for once. “Get going, I’ll watch your back until you get out.”

 

Red Hood nodded and managed to lift himself up, holding his bleeding and throbbing chest. All he could do was hope that Batman and Dick made it out alive.


	13. My first (500th) kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Dick discuss things, and Jason makes a small request.

Dick was keeping a close eye on Jason when he got out, and paid for it with a whack in the head that made him see stars for a moment. In retaliation he kicked the Talon’s feet out from under him, stabbing him in the eye. He was kicked in the stomach by another Talon and he grunted in pain before jumping up, kicking the Talon in the head. _This isn’t going to work. The Court has been weakened, but we can’t take them down like this._

 

Dick looked around for Batman, to convince him to retreat, but he didn’t see him anywhere. He gained some high ground, but even then all he could see was Talons. _He must have left with Jason._

Throwing one last glance back at the Talons Dick made a dash for the exit, not bothering to stop running. The batmobile was gone, furthering Dick’s suspicions that Batman and Jason had both made it out. The Talons didn’t seem to be following after him, something that he was very grateful for as he ran full speed back to Jason’s warehouse.

 

…

 

Batman was struggling underneath of some Talons. He had no idea where Dick was, but he knew that at least Red Hood had gotten out. “Get off of me,” he growled, trying to shake them off. The Talons (of course) ignored him, but they all froze as men and women in Owl masks appeared. One of them was wearing a robe, and he studied Batman before turning to the Talons. “Lock him up.”

 

Batman tried to struggle some more, but one jab to the neck with a sleep serum and he passed out. The Talons dragged him off to the holding cells, the Owls watching silently.

 

…

 

Dick had done a few laps around Gotham to be absolutely certain he wasn’t being followed before going back to the warehouse, climbing through the window rather than taking the door. He spotted Jason jump up from his spot on the couch, and Dick held up his hands in a placating gesture. Jason relaxed for a moment, then looked around. “Where’s Batman?”

 

Dick gaped at him for a moment. “I thought he was with you!”

 

Jason simply glared in return.

 

“He’s not here?”

 

“Would I be asking if he was?” Jason snapped. “That means…” _He’s still with the Court._ Jason grabbed his gun off of the couch, “I have to find him.”

 

“Even if we go there now, we’d have to wait. They’re expecting us to come back, and they’ll be more prepared this time. They’ve probably woken up the frozen Talons by now.” _Such as Cobb._

“But what if they kill Batman?” Jason stressed.

 

“They won’t kill him,” Dick said firmly. “Not yet.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

Dick shifted slightly. “They will probably put him in the labyrinth.”

 

“And what’s that?” Jason asked, his voice distressed, although he was giving Dick an intense look.

 

Dick took a deep breath before starting. “A long time ago, before I was a Talon, before many of us were Talons, the previous Talon and the newest Talon would hunt each other and fight to the death while the Court tortured them mentally at the same time. The fights were… brutal… and the Talon who was victorious would become the newest Talon. All of this takes place in the labyrinth.”

 

Jason buried his face in his hands for a moment before grabbing his helmet and putting it back on, gun strapped to his hip.

 

“Jason wait,” Dick grabbed his arm, “they haven’t started the torture yet. Wait until daylight at least, Talons are at their strongest during the night. We were taught to train in the dark.”

 

“I _have_ to save him before they start torturing him,” Jason said through gritted teeth.

 

“They’ll wait a day or two,” Dick said, although his next words weren’t very reassuring. “First they starve you, so you’ll be weak when the time for entering the labyrinth comes.”

 

Jason pushed past him, jumping out of the window and pulling out his grapple. Dick was very thankful for his enhanced speed as he chased after the Red Hood. “Jason!”

 

“What?” Jason snarled.

 

“You’ll be slaughtered, or put in the labyrinth with him. You aren’t even properly stitched!” He gestured to the blood coating the Red Hood’s chest.

 

Jason’s fingers twitched, as though he had been about to reach for his gun but he stilled them. “He needs me. I can’t turn my back on him.”

 

“You’ll be dead!” Dick hissed, stepping forward. “Do you want him to get out of there or not?”

 

“So what’s your plan then?” Jason demanded in a loud voice.

 

 _I don’t have one._ Dick figured Jason wouldn’t be satisfied with that answer. “…Improvise.”

 

Jason snorted in response and continued on to where Alan Wayne was murdered. Dick grit his teeth and fell into step behind him. “For someone who is supposed to be smart, you are very foolish sometimes.”

 

Jason shrugged, then twitched as though the movement had hurt him. “I just follow my heart more then my head I guess.”

 

“It’ll get you killed,” Dick pointed out the very large flaw.

 

“At least I’ll die for something worthy,” Jason snapped back.

 

“Or,” Dick said, almost gently. “You can live and take back what’s yours.”

 

Jason was silent for a moment before speaking in a voice so low that Dick had to use his enhanced hearing to understand him. “When the Joker had me I was… praying Batman would come and save me. I _knew_ he would. It wasn’t until I heard the ticking of the bomb that I realized ‘he aint gonna make it’,” Jason snorted, although there was no humor. “It was the worst feeling in the world. I felt like he abandoned me. I’m _not_ going to do that to him – even though the bastard deserves it – I’ll save him now. Before they torture him half insane or put him in some fucking labyrinth… I’ll die trying.”

 

“You can rescue him though,” Dick said after a moment of taking that all in. “Just wait until tomorrow.”

 

Jason turned to face him, and Dick wished he could see Jason, but the only thing he could see was the blank expressionless red helmet. “Alright… morning.”

 

Dick almost sighed with relief. “Morning,” he agreed. “Let’s head back to the warehouse now.”

 

…

 

Jason collapsed on the bed after patching himself up (with Dick’s help). He was trying to get sleep, to get well rested again, but he just _couldn’t._ And the sound of Dick sharpening his knives wasn’t helping either. Eventually he sighed and headed out to watch Dick. Dick seemed tenser then usual, and Jason couldn’t help but to replay everything that had happened in his head. Dick’s timing _had_ been off, and it was almost too convenient of an excuse for him to not have thought Jason was with Batman. What had happened in those few days that Jason had no contact with him? What if Dick _was_ double-crossing them? Why was he even _thinking_ about this?

 

Dick looked up at him, something dark in his golden eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, and I didn’t let him get caught on purpose.”

 

_Well, now he’s a mind reader apparently. Great._

“I hope not,” Jason said after a moment, and sat down next to Dick on the couch. “Can I kiss you?”

 

“What?” Dick asked in shock. “Why would you want to kiss me?” He seemed hesitant, like he wasn’t sure if Jason was joking or not.

 

Jason simply shrugged. “I used to have the hots for you. I still do have the hots for you. But then you got captured and I never got to try anything before that. And if I die tomorrow,” Jason said, giving Dick a steady look. “I figured I don’t wanna leave anything behind that I would’ve wanted to do.”

 

“You did?” Dick didn’t sound surprised in the slightest that Jason used to have a thing for him. “Are you being serious or just messing around?”

 

Jason frowned at him. “Why would I mess around with something like this? This is pretty much humiliating for me to admit – even to myself – but… if you don’t want to… just forget I said anything.”

 

Dick studied him for a long moment before shrugging. “Okay.”

 

Jason stared at him, unsure if he heard right. “For real? I thought you hated that kind of contact.”

 

Dick smiled slightly, “Well… if we die tomorrow…”

 

“Okay…” Jason moved a bit closer to him, feeling awkward suddenly. He’d kissed people before, guys and girls, but none of them were _Dick._ He had his fantasies of course, but that’s all they were. Fantasies. He knew how Dick kissed his lovers – he’d seen him kiss Kori and Babs and Donna and at one point Roy enough times – but this was just casual kissing… probably. Plus, this Dick might not even remember _how_ to kiss.

 

Dick stared at him, obviously waiting for Jason to make the first move. _Fuck it._ Jason almost lunged, pulling Dick in for a kiss. Dick seemed frozen for a moment before kissing him back hesitantly, and Jason knew straight away that Dick Grayson did not kiss anyone like that. He had no idea how to even kiss properly, he was just mimicking people from movies. It was sort of adorable.

 

Jason pulled away with an amused smile. “Thanks.”

 

Dick was staring at his chest though, and Jason looked down to see blood seeping through his shirt. _Damn, I liked that shirt._ He sighed and stood up, heading into the bathroom area to stich himself up.

 

Dick hung back rather awkwardly. “Do you need help?”

 

“Eh… have you ever stitched anybody before?” _And by before I mean during the time the Court brainwashed you._

 

Dick shook his head. “No, but I have been stitched before, and I memorized how to do it in case nobody was around to stitch me.”

 

Jason took off his shirt when Dick entered the room, and almost missed the look Dick shot him. As though he was appreciative but trying to be discreet about it. Jason had never seen that look on Dick’s face before, so it was an interesting development. Especially since Dick had sported it while Jason was half naked. The look quickly disappeared as Dick regained control of his emotions and he took the stitches from Jason’s hands, starting to do it himself.

 

He hadn’t been lying when he said he’d memorized it, he was actually doing a pretty damn good job at it. “Fucking Talons,” Jason muttered, frowning at the blood. It didn’t really hurt as much as before, Jason was pretty good at dealing with physical pain, but the needle in his skin wasn’t exactly helping.

 

Dick was almost finished the stitching when Jason spoke again. “What was it like? Our kiss I mean.”

 

“It was… good. Well, better then I expected.”

 

Jason started to laugh but quickly stopped when Dick almost stabbed him with the needle due to his chest moving. “Wow that’s… I don’t know. Insulting.”

 

“Like you said before,” Dick said, “I’m not exactly a physical person. What are your thoughts on it?”

 

“It was… a bit odd.” _Nothing like I had pictured._ “But I liked it.”

 

Dick seemed a bit surprised at that, but he covered that up quickly. “Your stitches are finished.”

 

Jason took a towel and wiped the blood off of his chest before putting on a clean shirt. “I’m going to get some sleep… you know where the food is if you get hungry.”

 

“Okay,” Dick hesitated for a moment before adding, “sleep well.”

 

Jason gave him a small smile before heading into the other room. _I’ll try._


	14. Getting Back the Bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title pretty much explains it all

Jason groaned when Dick shook him awake. “It’s time to go.”

 

 _Go where?_ Jason groaned and put his head under the pillow to block out Dick’s voice. “No, leave me alone.”

 

Dick frowned. “I thought you wanted to leave?”

 

It took a moment for Jason’s brain to catch up with what Dick was talking about, and he grunted before getting up, putting on his outfit sleepily. One glance at Dick was enough to confirm that fugly ass Talon outfit he had on. At least it showed off his butt.

 

Jason looked in the mini-fridge, but all that greeted him was beer and cereal. _Wish I had some coffee in here._

“So, what’s the plan again?”

 

“Well, they know I betrayed them so it’s impossible to go back as myself. I suppose I could pose as another Talon,” he sounded thoughtful, although Jason wasn’t sure how that plan would work.

 

“And how would you do that? You guys don’t exactly look alike under those costumes…”

 

“We all have separate posts,” Dick said.

 

“Okay just… be careful. They’re gonna be more suspicious now.”

 

“I know,” Dick said, “You’re going to have to keep watch and warn me of any suspicious activity. Whatever you do, don’t let them see you or our whole cover will be blown.”

 

“Alright,” Jason said dryly, “I feel no pressure at all. But you should eat first, get some nutrition.”

 

“I already ate,” Dick waved him off, and Jason rose an eyebrow but got water for himself and an apple he found in the back of the fridge. Luckily it only had about two small brown spots on it, but otherwise it seemed green and juicy. It must have been from when Dick went out and got them some more stuff.

 

Dick watched him eat patiently, and Jason wasn’t sure if he should feel grateful or annoyed. Either way, Jason ate quickly and didn’t hesitate in grabbing his gun and domino mask. Dick in turn put on his Talon hood, transforming instantly from a pretty sexy looking man in a terrible suit into the stuff of nightmares. It wasn’t as effective during the day as it was during the night, but it was giving Jason some unwanted flashbacks to last night.

 

Deciding it would be quicker if Dick ran them there, Jason hopped on his back and the two of them made their way back to the sewers. Dick put Jason down once they got close, but froze and grabbed his arm hurriedly. “That’s Calvin Rose,” he said, pointing to a patrolling Talon unnecessarily. From the hatred in his voice, Jason had the feeling he didn’t like this Talon very much. In fact, it was probably the Talon that he had stabbed over and over last night. “He’s a guard for the labyrinth. If we kill him I can impersonate him and gain access.”

 

“Won’t they want the Talons to take off their hoods there?” Jason questioned.

 

“Absolutely not. It’s meant to intimidate the people captured in the labyrinth.”

 

Jason backed himself into a shadow. “Alright, good luck. I’ll be keeping a lookout.”

 

Dick all but disappeared as he raced from the spot next to Jason to behind Rose. He didn’t hesitate as he snapped the Talon’s neck and threw him to the ground, ripping Rose’s hood off and stabbing him in the head. He quickly hid the body (not enough time to completely dispose of it) and started to head to the false wall.

 

Jason spotted movement coming from the opposite sewer. “Dick, there’s a Talon coming from your left.”

 

Dick didn’t answer, but he made sure his hood was on tightly before strutting past the Talon like he had every right to be there. The Talon was clueless. “Did you hear something? I could have sworn I heard something…”

 

“Yes I did,” Dick replied, voice masked by the filter the Talon hood provided. “It was coming from the labyrinth.”

 

“I will check it out,” the Talon said, “you stay here.”

 

Dick took a step forward. “My post is in the labyrinth.”

 

The Talon tilted his head but other then that didn’t seem suspicious. “Alright, you go and I’ll stay.”

 

Dick gave a sharp nod before heading through the false wall. _It’s all up to you now, Dick._ Jason thought, watching as his Talon disappeared in the sewers. _Good luck._

…

 

Dick was thankful that he was wearing the hood, because he most likely would have been making a face at the sight of Batman in the labyrinth.

 

“You know,” Dick heard Jason in his ear. “We could have awesome phone sex with this comm link.”

 

Dick could feel himself blush, “Shhh.”

 

Dick could practically see the smirk on Jason’s face in his mind, but he didn’t mention sex again. “You see anything?”

 

“Yeah, Batman,” Dick mumbled as low as he could.

 

“What’s going on?” Jason’s voice was urgent. “Is he okay?”

 

“He is right now,” Dick assured him, still in that low voice. “They haven’t started the torture yet.”

 

“What can I do?” Jason asked immediately. “I wanna do something!”

 

Before Dick could reply he heard another voice behind him. “Who were you talking to?”

 

“I was thinking out loud,” Dick lied.

 

“I see,” The Talon didn’t seem bothered by the response. “Do you want to watch Batman be tortured?” The excitement in his voice was a bit unnerving, but Dick forced himself to respond with the same enthusiasm. “Of course.”

 

He followed the Talon to where Batman was tied up. Dick twitched, wishing that he could communicate with Batman somehow, but he couldn’t give himself away. The Talons went straight up to Batman, flicking their blades out and started to slice through the Kevlar in his suit and into his skin. Batman barely flinched on his part, although he did grimace, and Dick quickly flipped off the switch to the comm link. Jason didn’t need to hear this.

 

Dick crouched by his legs and began to cut slices, although not as deep and long as the other Talons were making. It took a good hour or so until the Talons got bored, deciding to hold off the rest of the torture tomorrow. Part of Dick was relieved that he didn’t have to torture Batman anymore, but another part of him was worried about what Jason was thinking. Dick hadn’t given him any warning. _Does he think they caught me? Does he think I betrayed him? Maybe I shouldn’t have switched the comm off… but the last thing I needed him to hear was Batman being tortured. By_ me _especially._

 

Batman didn’t seem to have a clue that Dick was among the Talons who tortured him, but he gave them all equal hell when they tried shoving him in the cage. It was a futile attempt, the Talons were stronger then him (at least combined), but he still tried his hardest to fight them off. He only backed down once they locked the cell door behind him.

 

Dick was among the last to leave the Bat alone, making mental plans on how to get him out. If Dick recalled correctly, Rose had the night shift for the labyrinth. It shouldn’t be too hard.

 

…

 

_Later that night…_

Dick waited for the Owl that had stationed him to leave before heading over to where Batman was being locked up. The man may have acted tough, but the wounds weren’t covered and he was slowly bleeding out since morning. It was not really a surprise when Dick unlocked the cell door and found Batman half unconscious.

 

Dick flipped on the comm link again. “Jason, I have him.”

 

He heard a loud sigh of relief from the other end of the comm. “Is he okay?”

 

“No,” Dick said, approaching the man. “He’s not.”

 

Batman startled at the monotonous voice of a Talon, and glared up at Dick, although his face seemed tired. Dick crouched next to him, “It’s Dick. I’ve come to get you out.” He pulled out a blade and cut the bindings on his wrist.

 

If Batman was surprised, he didn’t show it. “How is Jason?”

 

“He’s fine. We need to focus on getting you out. Can you stand?”

 

Batman nodded and got up, surprising Dick at how steady he seemed. “Yes.” He froze after a second. “Someone is coming.”

 

“Stay here for a minute,” Dick said, before using his enhanced speed to exit the cage, closing the door but not locking it behind him. The footsteps disappeared after some time, and he heard a long sigh come from Batman. “They’re gone. Which way is out?”

 

Dick opened the gate and helped Batman out, guiding him towards the exit of the labyrinth. It took only seconds for a Talon to find them, which Batman quickly knocked out. He turned to Dick, his eyes narrowed. “I need blades.”

 

Just as Dick was about to hand him some, the Talon gained its senses back and stabbed Batman in the stomach. Dick quickly threw a blade through the Talon’s head, killing him instantly and grabbed Batman to stop him from collapsing, watching as the man pulled the bloody blade out of his stomach.

 

Dick put an arm around Bruce to keep him steady. “I think some of the Talons heard us.”

 

“I’m coming back down,” he heard Jason in his ear, and he hissed out a protest but he had the feeling Jason ignored it completely. A couple minutes later he heard Jason’s voice echo. “Hello? Can you hear where I am?”

 

Dick closed his eyes before opening them again in frustration. “I think everyone can!” he snapped into the comm link. “Get back outside!”

 

Jason (of course) ignored him, instead finding his way to Dick from where his voice had sounded. He took one look at Batman and grimaced, coming over to help Dick carry the burden. “Come on Bats,” he mumbled, “let’s get you home.”

 

Batman grunted, and they (somehow) made it out of the Court without anyone attacking them. Perhaps they were waiting for an opportune moment to strike, although Dick was unsure how their hasty retreat would in any way _not_ be an opportune moment. He wasn’t complaining at the sudden stroke of luck though. Jason looked at Dick once they were a safe distance away from the sewers. “Thanks,” he said, and hesitated before adding, “I’m sorry we weren’t able to take down the Court permanently.”

 

“We can worry about that later,” Dick waved it off. “Let’s just keep going.”

 

Jason nodded, “I’m calling Alfred. We can’t walk all the way to Way- the batcave.” Bruce seemed relieved at the thought that he wouldn’t have to walk anymore, and Dick couldn’t blame him. He looked terrible, and a part of him felt bad that he had taken part in torturing Batman. Dick kept a steady arm around Batman while Jason made the call to Alfred, telling the aged butler exactly where they were. Thirty minutes later the batmobile skid to a halt in front of them, and Dick blinked. _Where did the batmobile come from?_ He’d remembered Batman parking it in front of the sewers, but it had been gone when Dick came out. He decided to worry about that later as Alfred opened the door, and Jason and Dick helped to (basically shove) Batman inside. The man was heavy, especially with his Kevlar on.

 

“Alfred,” Jason greeted him, then added, “Bats is going to need some food. I know you make good chicken noodle soup.” He paused for a moment, wondering why the hell he’d even thought of that, but a memory from when he’d been sick as a child and Alfred made him some soup entered his mind. He quickly pushed it away, he’d save the batfeels for later.

 

“I will Master Red Hood,” Alfred said and nodded for them to get inside the vehicle as well. Jason climbed in first, Dick followed a bit hesitantly after. It was a tight fit, but they somehow managed as Alfred zoomed back to the manor. For an old man, Alfred was a very skilled driver apparently.

 

None of them spoke another word until Alfred parked the batmobile and turned to Dick and Jason. “Would you like to come inside?”

 

Dick couldn’t tell if the butler was offering or demanding it, but he felt Jason staring at him and he turned to look at the vigilante.

 

“Do you?” Jason questioned, and Dick thought for a moment before nodding. “For a short amount of time.”

 

“For a short time,” Jason agreed before looking at Batman. “He’ll be okay, right?”

 

“With some _rest,_ ” Alfred said meaningfully, giving Batman a hard look. The man simply grunted in return, and Dick got the feeling that Batman wasn’t the ‘resting’ type.

 

“Alright,” Jason said, helping Batman out along with Dick. “We won’t stay too long.”

 

Dick couldn’t look any of them in the face. He felt like this entire thing was his fault… he should have checked more, stayed longer to make sure that Batman had actually been gone.

 

Jason was looking at Dick. He had the same ‘this is all my fault’ look that he did numerous times when Jason remembered him as Nightwing. Jason should have known Dick would be kicking himself over this. Apparently some things never changed. “Actually,” Jason said, not taking his eyes off of Dick. “We’re leaving now. Get well soon Bruce.”

 

Bruce didn’t say anything, but both him and Alfred seemed to have sensed Dick’s guilt from their spot, and Alfred gave Jason an understanding look. “I look forward to seeing the two of you soon.”

 

Jason nodded but Dick was still staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Jason grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the batcave, keeping an eye on Dick as they strode across the manor grounds. “You okay?” He asked hesitantly.

 

“Mhm.”

 

Jason studied him. “’Mhm’?”

 

“I’m fine,” Dick snapped, and Jason gave up. For the time being.

 

“Let’s just go home,” Jason said after a moment, and though Dick didn’t say anything else, Jason could feel the tension. _Great._


	15. Fast Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Dick have a discussion, and Jason introduces Dick to something very important for his diet

Jason sat down on the couch. “So… what do we do now? The Court aint gone unfortunately. Try again or just… run off?” Jason made a face at the thought of ‘running off’.

 

“I don’t know…” Dick rubbed his eyes, “perhaps I will think of something after I sleep.”

 

“Yeah me too… goodnight,” Jason said, stifling the urge to yawn and going in the backroom. Dick hesitated for a moment, as though he were going to say something, then appeared to change his mind and put sheets and a pillow down on the couch again before collapsing on it, trying to clear his mind.

 

…

 

_Next morning…_

Dick was still lying on the couch, and Jason was unsure if he was awake or not, but he needed an update on Bruce. He’d looked bad last night, and he wasn’t sure how well Alfred was handling it. He half debated on going to the manor himself but decided not to and instead called Alfred.

 

Alfred answered on the third ring, he sounded a bit tired. “Wayne Manor, who is speaking?”

 

“Hey Alfie, it’s me.”

 

“Oh, Master Jason. I suppose you want an update on Master Bruce?”

 

Jason nodded, then remembered Alfred couldn’t see it. “Yeah I do.”

 

“He is doing better, although he keeps trying to get up when he thinks I’m not looking.”

 

Jason snorted. “Typical Bruce.”

 

“And how are you and Master Dick holding up?”

 

“We’re doing okay. I am at least. Dick is as tightlipped as ever.”

 

“Ah,” Alfred sounded sympathetic. “Well I believe you may be able to open him up over time.”

 

Jason sighed, not believing that for a second. “Alfred I’m not like you unfortunately.”

 

“I’m flattered,” Alfred replied, “but you have many skills that surpass my own.”

 

“Thanks Alfred,” Jason said, although he still didn’t really believe it. “I’ll try making him open up to me.”

 

“I’m sure you can,” Alfred said. “Goodbye, Master Jason.”

 

“Bye Alf,” Jason hung up before heading into the other room where Dick was. His Talon was staring up at the ceiling, looking depressed, and Jason couldn’t waste this opportunity.

 

A second later Dick had rolled off the couch to avoid being tickled by Jason more. Jason laid down on the couch and pulled Dick back up, glad their was enough room for both of them to lay down (although it was a tight fit). “So,” Jason said with a smirk. “What’s up?”

 

Dick gave him an odd look. “The ceiling.”

 

See, that was usually a joke, but Dick looked completely serious and Jason had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “Okay well… I meant how are you?”

 

“I’m fine…” Dick said an awkwardly added, “How are you?”

 

“I’m fine,” Jason shrugged. “We’re both alive. Bruce is getting better… I just wish I knew what to do with the Court. I don’t want you getting killed.”

 

Dick snorted, although not in humor. “I’m already dead.”

 

“You know what I mean,” Jason gave him a serious look.

 

Dick frowned at him. “Don’t worry about me.”

 

“But I do,” Jason said, sitting up. “You’re… precious to me.” _Fuck did I say that out loud? What am I a teenage girl?_

Dick looked like he was fighting off a smile. “Precious?”

 

“Yes,” Jason gave him his ‘if you try teasing me I will not hesitate to shoot you’ look. Dick seemed to get the hint and he turned serious again. “Oh… well… thank you.”

 

Jason was pretty relieved Dick wasn’t being a douche about it. If their roles had been reversed, Jason totally would have been a douche about it. “So, let’s say they don’t go looking for us. What do you want to do? Do you wanna go live on your own or return to the nest?”

 

Dick made a face. “…What nest? I lived in a nest?”

 

Jason snorted, “I meant with the family. The bird nest. I guess we were all kind of Batman’s birds. Dickie-bird. Jaybird.”

 

“Oh,” Dick looked hesitant, “…I don’t know yet.”

 

“Okay then… do you wanna move in permanently with me?”

 

“I… I guess. Yes.”

 

“Good, but you’ll have to share rent bills with me.”

 

“Okay… sounds easy enough.”

 

Jason was silent for a moment before speaking. “Dick? Do you… wish you had your memories back?”

 

“Sometimes,” Dick said cautiously.

 

“If you do… there might be a way for it.” _Or you might just go nuts._

“What?” Dick’s eyes widened. “You’re telling me this _now?”_

 

“Well… um… yeah,” Jason said, slightly defensive.

 

Dick seemed a bit too curious to argue. “What is this ‘way’?”

 

“It’s called the Lazarus Pit. You know how I said I was dead and brought back to life? That’s how it happened.” _Kinda._

 

“I’ve heard of that before,” Dick said vaguely. “Well, accidentally overheard it from an Owl. They don’t want to Talons to know about it for some reason.”

 

“Oh well… it could bring your memories back, but… there are side-effects.”

 

Dick gave him a curious look.

 

“After my dip I… went crazy for a bit. Went around killing people – good people too.”

 

“I kill people anyway,” Dick said flippantly.

 

“But…” Jason hesitated. _I don’t want to lose you again._

Dick tilted his head. “But what?”

 

“Just… what if you come back even more different?”

 

“Then why bring it up in the first place?” Dick asked, irritated.

 

“Because it might be hard to believe, but maybe I care more about how you feel about yourself than our relationship.”

 

 Dick bit his lip. “What do you think then?”

 

“What, about us?”

 

“The pit or us? Is that the only choice?”

 

“The only choice I know of,” Jason said eventually. Dick sighed. “First we need to know what to do about the Court. I… need time to think about the Pit.”

 

Jason pulled Dick close, kissing up his jawline, hoping that he wouldn’t get castrated for doing so without Dick’s permission. _Maybe he’ll decline the Pit._

Dick stiffened at first, then to Jason’s great surprise, he relaxed and sighed. “I like that.”

 

“That?” Jason asked. “You mean me?”

 

Dick nodded, “Mhm.”

 

Jason smirked. “So do I.”

 

Dick was silent for a moment, almost like he was hesitating, before speaking in a quiet voice. “What was I like before?”

 

“You were…” Jason trailed off, a shit-eating grin on his face. “It depends on who you ask. I personally thought you were a pussy.” _And hot. But it’s not like that changed._

Dick made a face. “Thanks.”

 

Jason just chuckled. “But others thought you were great. Bruce thought you were a good soldier and son and you had so many friends – meta and human – and some smoking hot girlfriends too.”

 

Dick nodded, but remained silent. It wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable silence, but Jason wasn’t sure he liked where it had left off. “So, plans for today?”

 

Dick turned to look at him, his voice dead serious. “How about something that doesn’t revolve around us dying horribly?”

 

Jason chuckled. “Yeah sure, sounds like as good a plan as any. What do you want to do?”

 

“I don’t know. What did I like to do before?”

 

“You enjoyed doing acrobatic stuff,” said Jason, thinking of all the tricks that Dick had shown him back when he was Robin and Dick was Nightwing. For a moment he felt a pang of longing. Things had been much simpler back then.

 

“Great,” Dick replied, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. “You wouldn’t happen to have bars or a trapeze lying around somewhere I’m assuming?”

 

“Ehm… well not really, but Bruce has one but…” Jason trailed off awkwardly at the look on Dick’s face.

 

“Is there anything else?” Dick asked him. “If you want we can do something you like. Or go back to the manor if we aren’t disturbing Bruce…”

 

“Me?” Jason asked in surprise. “Hmm… well I like eating,” he offered.

 

Dick’s yellow eyes narrowed. “Nothing else?”

 

Jason snorted at the look on his face. “Aah c’mon. Food is a luxury!” Dick’s expression didn’t change, so Jason went on with his mental list. “Well I like guns. And girls. And fast cars. And taking down scumbags.”

 

Dick’s eyes seemed to light up at the last part, and he smirked. “Let’s go hunting tonight.”

 

“Who?” Jason asked, thinking about the Court and wondering if they’d still be looking for them.

 

“Anyone I suppose,” Dick replied carelessly.

 

“Hmm… alright then,” Jason couldn’t help but to frown. “I thought you wanted a different life though?”

 

“You’re the one that brought it up,” irritation leaked into Dick’s tone.

 

“Sorry, you’re right. It’s just… I dunno. Nevermind.”

 

Dick looked at him with slight curiousity. “What is it?”

 

“I just…” Jason wasn’t quite sure how to put what he was feeling into words. All he knew was that something felt wrong when he looked into Dick’s cold eyes and tense demeanor like he was prepared to lunge at anyone in a second’s notice. “I want you to know that there’s other stuff than what the damn Court taught you. Lots more. I chose this path for myself but you were forced into it, it wouldn’t be fair not to give you the chance to see more.”

 

Dick frowned slightly. “Like what?”

 

“Anything and everything,” Jason replied. “Sleeping, shopping, traveling, all kinds of different foods, books, sports, friendships… you name it.”

 

Dick was silent for a moment. “… That’s a lot to choose from.”

 

Jason smirked. “And that’s not even all there is. Anyway, if you enjoy cleaning the world of garbage I’m not gonna stop you, I just want you to know that there’s more. But then… you have all of eternity to find out since you’re immortal and all.”

 

“I suppose you’re right…” Dick trailed off, eyes vague and looking slightly disgusted. Jason knew immediately that he was thinking about having to spend an eternity with the Court of Owls. “You need to show me everything.”

 

“Wow, that was a fast change of attitude.” Jason was honestly surprised, but he didn’t hesitate in pulling Dick even closer. Whaddya wanna do first?”

 

“Eat?” Dick suggested after a moment. “What is there to eat?”

 

“Well…” Jason thought about it. “Do you like fast food?”

 

Dick shot Jason a flat look. “We don’t really have a wide selection of food at the Court.”

 

“What did you guys eat then?” Jason asked curiously. Dick tensed, eyes flashing, before seeming to calm himself down and shrugging rather forcefully. “Scraps.”

 

“Is that it?” Jason studied Dick’s muscular body in confusion. “How did you guys get ‘nuff energy to fight and train?”

 

“They would feed us grains to keep up our strength. It’s disgusting but it works.”

 

“Well that is about to change,” Jason declared. “I know this place not far from here that has great fast food.”

 

“Okay…” Dick frowned with slight confusion. “What is fast food?” 

 

Jason’s first thought was that Dick was joking, then when he realized the Talon was serious a slight horror started to creep in, although he should have expected it. Dick had said he basically lived off of grains after all. Words were not spoken, Jason just sat up, grabbed Dick by the arm, and rushed out of the warehouse. “C’mon,” Jason said, ignoring Dick’s grumpy attitude at being manhandled. Jason had the feeling that the only reason Dick hadn’t sliced off Jason’s arm was because he was curious. “We’re getting some fast food.”

 

…

 

“What did you get?” Dick asked, no curiosity in his tone. “A heart attack in a bag?”

 

Jason snorted and popped a french fry into his mouth. “Don’t be like that.”

 

“What’s it taste like?” Dick asked him.

 

“Try it out.” There really wasn’t any way he could describe something that Dick never had before. Well, Talon-Dick at least.

 

Dick was very cautious when he took a hold of one of the French fries, looking as though the small yellow food would suddenly attack him, before eating it. A small smile graced his face, making it look almost human. “This is good.”

 

Jason just gave him an ‘I told you’ look – which Dick ignored of course.

 

“What else is there?”

 

“Pizza with extra cheese,” Jason licked his lips, getting rid of the French fry taste before eating a slice of the pizza. “Dig in, try everything you want.”

 

Dick took a few bites of the pizza but didn’t eat the entire thing. “This is good too,” he said, and Jason got the feeling he was enjoying this little taste-session.

 

“I really need to work out to burn off all this fast food junk,” Jason said, then grinned. “But it was totally worth it.”

 

“It is good,” Dick admitted again. “Did you get a drink?”

 

Jason almost commented that Dick barely touched what he apparently thought was ‘so good’ before he remembered how small Dick’s stomach must be, and that this had probably filled the Talon up. Instead he nodded up at the soda dispenser. “You can get whatever drink you want from there.”

 

Dick was by the machine in a second. He seemed to have no idea what was what, but he managed to get some ice, which Jason thought was a good thing. Jason watched curiously as his Talon settled on getting a Sprite, before heading back and taking a sip.

 

Jason watched him for any sign of a reaction, but Dick didn’t give him any. “And?”

 

“It’s good,” Dick said, drinking some more of the soda.

 

“What now?” Jason asked, finishing the rest of the pizza, trying to ignore Dick’s gaze since it was kind of uncomfortable to have him staring while Jason was trying to enjoy a meal.

 

“… Is there a library?” Dick finally asked.

 

Jason nodded. “Yeah there is, if we take a bus we can get there in ten minutes.”

 

Dick seemed pleased at that. “Let’s take the bus to the library then.”

 

_So he seems familiar with libraries. Although I don’t really remember seeing one when I was at the Court… then again, I was bleeding out and didn’t really have the chance to explore. Who knows what the Court is really like besides Dick?_

**Author's Note:**

> *A Talon Blade is what the Court uses to torture their undead Talons. If there is enough poison on it, then it will kill the Talon. But if there isn't enough poison, it will simply scar the Talon.


End file.
